Mayne Reid

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had "rediscovered" the work of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. At the time of that writing, I had just finished reading The Cabin (La barraca) and had begun reading The Torrent (Entre Naranjos). As I write this today, I've begun re-reading Blasco Ibáñez' most famous work, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Although well written, I didn't find the story in The Torrent (Entre Naranjos) to my taste. Star-crossed lovers, unrequited love and Spanish politics are not really my cup of sangria.

Of special interest to me, however was the mention of two American writers that were favorites of the protagonist Rafael Brull - James Fenimore Cooper and Mayne Reid. Even though I've never read any of his books, James Fenimore Cooper's name is familiar to me. Mayne Reid, on the other hand, was new to me.

Thomas Mayne Reid was a Scots-Irish American novelist who specialized in adventure novels, much like Cooper and Robert Louis Stevenson. Reid was especially popular with boys in Europe and Russia. He was a childhood favorite of Arthur Conan Doyle and an influence on Conan Doyle's writings.

 After reading such high praise, I'm obliged to read at least one of Reid's novels. Project Gutenberg has more than 60 novels written by Mayne Reid available for download. The question remains, where to begin?

The wikipedia article on Reid lists one of his best-selling books as an anti-slavery novel, The Quadroon. That seems like a good place to start. I've downloaded the novel and I've placed it in the queue.