The chance meeting in a London fog, of a wealthy member of parliament, who is an opium eater, and a young writer in reduced circumstances, reveals the fact to each that he has a double. This strange revelation is seized upon by the former as a means of providing himself with a political substitute when the craving for the drug is upon him. They change places temporarily with the result that the masquerader wins political distinction and the affections of his double’s alienated wife, who fancies that she has fallen in love with her husband. In the end the drug does its work and the masquerader is made to see that his duty lies in quietly continuing the deception.
“The development of Loder’s character is so well shown and the interest of the story is so great that it is only when the book is finished that we realize the impossibility of the whole thing, an impossibility which militates very strongly against the artistic excellence of the novel.” Mary K. Ford.
| + — | Current Literature. 38: 321. Ap. ‘05. 1340w. |
“The story is so ingeniously told and cleverly constructed that its very boldness is in a measure justified.” W. M. Payne.
| + + — | Dial. 38: 18. Ja. 1, ‘05. 380w. |
“The author performs the feat of fitting an impossible plot into the realities of daily life, and doing it in a way that deceives the reader and holds his interest—while he reads. There is a sense of strain about the whole thing—the style, as well as the plot, is artificial.”
| + — | Ind. 58: 155. Ja. 19, ‘05. 320w. |
“The quality of the particular adventure is delicate and perilous and the book’s evasion of pitfalls is not less admirable than its more positive qualities. The critical sense of the reader is stilled by the hypnotic and engrossing nature of the narrative. One is delightfully deluded and beguiled.”
| + | Reader. 5: 259. Ja. ‘05. 290w. |
“The ethical problem involved in the secret change of place is solved in a new and eminently sane manner. The gradual disintegration of Chilcote’s character is a strong piece of work, as is likewise the description of Loder’s inner growth.”