Beverly of Graustark picks up the story George Barr McCutcheon began in his 1901 bestseller, Graustark.
Since their marriage Graustark’s Princess Yetive and her husband, Grenfall Lorry, have lived in Washington, D.C., but threats of war by neighboring Axphain brings them home to lead the defense of their East European kingdom.
Yetive’s good friend Beverly Calhoun, daughter of a US congressman, and her maid follow close behind. In the Graustark mountains, their coach is stopped by a band of ragged men, led by a handsome, English-speaking goat-herder who mistakes Beverly for Princess Yetive.
Beverly allows the misunderstanding because it suits her; Boldo pretends to believe it because it suits him.
Once in Edelweiss, Beverly learns there are actually three royal princes hiding out in Graustark. Surely the handsome Baldo must be one of them in disguise, mustn’t he?
McCutcheon says Beverly has a “graceful form” and Baldo has a “splendid figure.” That basically takes care of character development.
For plot development, there’s a lot of running about in cloaks in the dark, but nothing actually happens. Even the war ends without a skirmish.
Graustark’s leaders, so sensible and dedicated in the earlier novel, are frivolous and incompetent here.
Perhaps that comes of living in Washington, D.C.
Beverly of Graustark
by George Barr McCutcheon
1904 bestseller #6
Project Gutenberg EBook #6801
My grade: C-
Photo credit: Forest Bridge by Colin Broug
© 2014 Linda Gorton Aragoni
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