A novel with a Middle West town for the setting portrays the conflict between two civic standards, the one absolute, invincible against bribery and graft, the other, avowedly stamped by a leaning toward “big game” methods. The strife between the two men who have adopted these standards respectively is further complicated by their close domestic relations, the wife of one being the sister of the other. “The problem of the book, as implied in the title, of course, is whether, whenever the inevitable clash comes, the voice of love will speak strongly enough to outweigh the voice of the wife’s inherited convictions.” (Bookm.)
| + | A. L. A. Bkl. 3: 18. Ja. ’07. ✠ |
“It worked out with Mr. Payne’s usually strong grasp of the affairs of men and the emotions of women.” Frederic Taber Cooper.
| + + | Bookm. 24: 490. Ja. ’07. 390w. |
“Truthfulness rather than idealism is the note of the book, although it has latent idealism a-plenty.” Wm. M. Payne.
| + | Dial. 42: 228. Ap. 1, ’07. 260w. |
“The whole tone of the book is wise, tolerant, and unimpeachably sincere. [Grammatical] blemishes are few and trifling, only noticeable because they are growing so rife in Western fiction as to create a menace.”
| + + − | Nation. 83: 441. N. 22, ’06. 450w. |
“The tale is told with directness and strength. The incidents are dramatically handled, and throughout Mr. Payne writes with vigor and is in close touch with human nature.”