Maartens, Maarten (J. M. W. van der Poorten-Schwartz). My poor relations. [†]$1.50. Appleton.
Fourteen unpleasant stories of life in a little Dutch village, where the people are degraded and low in mind and morals. In “The mother” Mary Quint vainly struggles to help her son conquer his inherited love of drink. “Jan Hunkum’s money,” “Fair lover,” “The summer Christmas,” “The notary’s love story,” “The banquet,” and the rest, are all horridly true, and are told in a vivid style that makes them almost too real.
“The book is as oppressive as a nightmare.”
| — | Critic. 47: 189. Ag. ‘05. 90w. |
“Most of the fourteen stories herein told are pathetic almost to tragedy.”
| + — | N. Y. Times. 10: 213. Ap. 8, ‘05. 340w. |
“All the stories, while not calculated to make one laugh, will undoubtedly keep one’s interest alive.”
| + | N. Y. Times. 10: 390. Je. 17, ‘05. 200w. |
“It would be hard to name a book in which the characters are so uniformly disagreeable as in this collection of short stories.”
| + — | Outlook. 79: 858. Ap. 1, ‘05. 170w. |