“A tale of love and spring in Old California,” and of Isidro, whose proud determined father had vowed his son to the church while still in his cradle. The boy on his way to begin his novitiate with the fathers of St. Francis, meets a shepherd lad who proves to be “the one woman in the world.” He suffers hardships thru a series of adventures into which a delightful old priest, a fugitive, and a halfbreed of wild passion and heroic spirit enter.
“The story is well imagined and told with a delightful swing in a style that is vigorous, though at times too mannered.”
| + + — | Acad. 68: 810. Ag. 5, ‘05. 150w. |
“Mary Austin has achieved that admirable success, which is none too common, of telling a romantic tale with such vivid realism, a tale of bygone years with such graphic assurance of detail, as to make even the most melodramatic of her episodes seem quite within the range of credibility.” F. T. Cooper.
| + + | Bookm. 21: 601. Ag. ‘05. 530w. | |
| + | Ind. 59: 210. Jl. 27, ‘05. 90w. |
[*] “Is a masterpiece in the particulars of literary style, and time-old spirit.”
| + | Ind. 59: 1154. N. 16, ‘05. 30w. |
“That language has a character of its own and a fitness to the honorable service of the romance of old California. Mary Austin has the gift of the witchcraft of romance.”
| + | N. Y. Times. 10: 285. Ap. 29, ‘05. 570w. |
“Not a great piece of fiction, but carefully written, and presenting interesting types of character well-drawn, and a charming background of landscape.”