Benjamin Leopold Farjeon (1838–1903)

I bought this book because I saw mention of the character 12 year old "Gracie Death" as Psychic Detective. She does have dreams of her missing father telling her where to look for him, but I am not sure it gets to the level of what I would call a Psychic Detective. She does on a few occasions show some hints of Psychic abilities. And her dreams telling her to look for her father in Catchpole Square do lead to the finding of her father. But this is due as much to her regular detective searching for clues as to any psychic dreams or thoughts. She does make a very good detective especially considering her age, and she finds several important clues towards solving the mystery. The final solution is very much due to her dogged searching for her missing father. An interesting book considering the 12 year old age of the detective.… (mer)

A most unusual mystery and ghost story. A ghost of a young lady appears but once, but a spectral cat appears through most of the story. Both had been foully murdered and the cat remained in the story to demand retribution and justice, although never making a sound. A man and his wife begin looking for new lodging in London, at the wife's behest. After searching for some time they are offered a house that sounds too good to be true, and it is. The house has run down from neglect and lack of a tenant living in the house. The man and wife view the house and find the condition poor. While in an upstairs bedroom, the husband pulls a bell rope to see if it works. An awful noise of ringing bells is the result, then the sound of steps starting in the basement and coming up the stairs. The husband locks the door, but when the steps arrive, the door opens and a ghostly young woman enters the room. The wife faints at this point, but the husband sees the ghostly cat enter. The ghostly girl is never seen again, but the cat stays with the man through most of the book, although the man is the only one that can see it. The man slowly becomes aware that some evil deed has happened in this house, and that it is his duty to uncover the truth. He has the help of a man who he has been reacquainted with, who had been a school chum from his youth. Together they find the truth and solve the mystery. Although the scary passage in the early part of the book is the only one, it is still very much a ghost story also.… (mer)

Toilers of Babylon: A Novel
The horse was very old, the caravan very dilapidated. As it was dragged slowly along the country roads it shook and creaked and wheezed, protesting, as it were, that it had performed its duty in life and that its long labors justly entitled it to permanent repose. The horse, with its burden behind it, had long ago given over complaining, and, although its plight was no less woful, was demonstrative only through physical compulsion. With drooping head, lustreless eyes, and laboring breath, it plodded on, with many a longing look at tempting morsels out of its reach.

At the present moment it was at rest, released from the shafts, and partaking of a spare meal, humanly provided, eking it out with sweet tid-bits, not too abundant, munched from the fragrant earth. Sitting on the ground at the back of the caravan was a man with a book in his hand, which sometimes he read with the air of one who was in the company of an old and beloved friend; at other times he gazed around with pensive delight upon the beauties of nature, which in no part of the world find more exquisite representation than in the county of Surrey. In the rear of the caravan were lovely stretches of woodland, through vistas of which visions of cathedral aisles could be seen by the poetical eye. Across the narrow road was a scene which brought to the man's mind some lines in the book he held. Turning over its pages, he called out, in a voice not strong, but clear:… (mer)

The House of the White Shadows
We regret to learn that since this book was sent to press in this country, its gifted author has passed away in London at the ripe age of 70 years. It seems appropriate and indeed necessary to preface "The House of the White Shadows," on its appearance in America, with a brief account of Mr. Farjeon's life and literary career. Considering his popularity it is astonishing how very little is generally known regarding this author's personality. The ordinary reference books, if not altogether silent respecting him, have but a line or two, giving the date of his birth with perhaps a list of two or three of his principal novels. It is sincerely to be hoped that a competent biography will ultimately appear, affording to his very many admirers some satisfactory account of a man who has given the world more than twenty-five remarkable works of fiction.

Mr. Farjeon was an Englishman, having been born in London in 1833. At an early age he went to Australia and from thence to New Zealand. It would be exceedingly interesting to learn how he employed himself in those colonies. We know that he engaged in a journalistic venture in Dunedin, but how long it continued or how he fed his intellectual life during the years which intervened, until he published his first novel in London, we know little or nothing. At all events he returned home and launched his first literary venture in London in 1870. It was called "Grif, a Story of Australian Life." This story proved to be eminently successful, and probably determined its author's future career. He produced "Joshua Marvel" in 1871; "London's Heart" in 1873; "Jessie Trim" in 1874, and a long list of powerful novels ending with "Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square," published only two or three years ago. Some of these works, like "Blade o' Grass," "Bread and Cheese and Kisses," "Great Porter Square," etc., have been very popular both in England and the United States, passing through many editions.

Mr. Farjeon's style is remarkable for its vivid realism. The London "Athenæum" in a long and appreciative review styles him "a master of realistic fiction." On account of his sentiment and minute characterization he is regarded as a follower of the method of Dickens. No writer since that master can picture like Farjeon the touching and pathetic type of innocent childhood, pure in spite of miserable and squalid surroundings. He can paint, too, a scene of sombre horror so vividly that even Dickens himself could scarcely emulate its realism.

Mr. Farjeon visited the United States several times during his long life. Americans have always regarded him with kindly feelings. Perhaps this kindliness was somewhat increased when it became generally known that he had married a daughter of America's genial actor, Joseph Jefferson.

"The House of the White Shadows" is published in this country by arrangement with Messrs. Hutchinson & Co., of London, who have been Mr. Farjeon's publishers in Great Britain for many years.… (mer)