Talk:The Derelict (Bottome, Century Magazine, 1917)

Review of the book, The Derelict, a collection which includes this novelette/novella.
The Nation, 04 October 1917:
 * "The Derelict" would probably be called a novelette, according to the schedule (see "Standard Dictionary"), which assigns that diminutive title to any piece of fiction running under forty thousand words. It has, however, at least as much "plot," if by that we mean consistent action, as Mr. Hughes's long story. And it contains a study of a girl which bears the relation to his Kedzie Thropp of a portrait to an enlarged snap-shot. Here also is a young person of an inferior class imperilling the happiness of a very superior pair. Geoffrey Amberley and his betrothed Emily are the real thing, specimens of "the better sort," such as even Mr. James's elect might not scorn to accept. Geoffrey, to be sure, is a painter, but one sees that under Emily's eye and hand he is bound to live that down—bound, at least, to turn it to the utmost possible worldly account. Enter Fanny, as a protégée of the lofty Emily, Fanny the beautiful derelict. Since the day of Trilby, fiction has been fond of proving the virtues of the unvirtuous. Fanny is "fallen," and professionally so; Emily therefore feels safe in throwing her, as a negligible alien, into an intimacy with her faithful Geoffrey. What results is not a petty intrigue. Fanny as a model inspires the young artist to his best work, brings him fame; and Fanny as a woman arouses in him an emotion deeper and finer than his polite affection for Emily. As for Fanny, she is born again, in her love for him, and willingly takes herself out of his life in season, for his sake and for the sake of her own new vision of life. The story triumphs in making us believe in Fanny, and in making her a symbol of character as contrasted with mere blamelessness. Miss Bottome's manner is of the well-bred school, with a family resemblance to Mrs. Wharton's and Miss Sedgwick's, her work has the finish and proportion which, in fiction as elsewhere, are the reward of the artist in contrast with the improvisator. The shorter tales which conclude the present volume are of equal skill and less force.

The Outlook, 30 June 1920:
 * Short stories by the author of "The Dark Tower." With one or two exceptions they have grim and tragic plot-ideas, but the author has a sense of humor and her art is of the finest. "The Liqueur Glass," for instance, might have been written by.