Set predominantly in Chicago, the basic plot revolves around a woman adopting a foundling, after first speaking to a ruthless lawyer for advice, as she doesn’t want her husband to know the baby girl isn’t theirs.

Twenty years later, in 1898, the woman’s husband has become rich, and the lawyer reappears, leading to blackmail and other unpleasantness.

Having enjoyed several works of fiction by George Barr McCutcheon I was expecting something as good with “Jane Cable”. Sadly, this was a huge disappointment. It was almost as though I was reading a book written by a different author.

The dull third-person narrative read like a poor emulation of one of Charles Dickens’s weakest efforts. Also like Dickens, this tome features a plethora of adverbs and too many characters, several of which seem superfluous to the story, as do certain scenes.

Regarding the characters, there wasn’t one that drew me to them in any way, good or bad. None of them even rose up to be a strong hero or heroine of the piece. The title character remains in the background for the most part.

The author’s earlier books feature engaging characters and entertaining dialogue, both of which are absent here. Only the odd interesting scene kept me reading and from rating this just 1 star.

Had this been the first book I’d read by George Barr McCutcheon I wouldn’t have bothered with any more of his works, but knowing what he is capable of means I’m assuming this is just a bad apple and that his other novels will be of the same calibre as the likes of “The Sherrods” and “Castle Craneycrow”. ( )

Bought this because I like his Graustark books,but this is set chiefly in Chicago with references to the Philippines