AMAZON UK
AMAZON CA
adventure / novella
19th Century
US
adventure / novella
19th Century
US
Some time in the last few decades
of the 19th century, someone had the bright idea of printing
affordable books for a broader readership, specifically targeting those people
who might be intimidated by the notion of picking up a brick by Dickens or who
were simply unaccustomed to reading as a pastime.
Such books were labelled dime
novels in the US, for the simple reason that they cost a dime to buy. In
general, these were fast-paced adventure stories, often set in the Wild West
and featuring well-known heroes and villains of the day. Not necessarily the
most literary of books, dime novels did not aspire to do more than two things:
entertain and create a growing demand for more reading matter of the same kind.
The Notorious Black Bart is a
loving recreation of the good old dime novel. Ms Wasserman breathes life into
the genre and delivers a fun little read complete with a hero, a bad guy,
onomatopoetic expressions such as Bang!
and Ping!, and an uncomplicated plot
where the ending is not really in doubt; it’s the how that has the reader
turning the page.
Ms Wasserman knows her setting,
both geographically and historically. Stage coaches thunder by with lathered
horses, people travel by steamboat and train, drop by livery stables for a
horse. San Francisco is thriving as a consequence of the gold rush, men of all
kinds converge on California to make their fortune, and one of them ends up
robbing stage coaches for a living. Well, for revenge, Black Bart would insist,
but that I leave to future readers to find out for themselves.
Black Bart’s nemesis, Special
Agent James Hume is based on a real agent—just as Bart is based on a real
criminal. As in all dime novels, characterisation is achieved through swift pen
strokes rather than in-depth portrayal,
but Ms Wasserman ensures her protagonists have their fair share of quirks and
also gives Black Bart a back story that somehow mitigates his crimes. To a
point.
I enjoyed this quick read but
dime novels were never sophisticated reading matter and today’s reader may
therefore find the story a tad too straightforward? Perhaps, also, the price of this short novella-type read of 124 pages is perhaps a little high? I also found the
framing—The Notorious Black Bart is read aloud by an English lord to his two
servants—somewhat unnecessary. Despite this, I applaud Ms Wasserman for
bringing to life the type of novel that served as a portal to reading for those
who had neither the benefit of a thorough education or the money to spend on
“real” books.
© Anna Belfrage
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Very cool. My historical fiction is set in San Francisco and the Bay Area, so in the course of my research so far I have of course come across James Hume and Black Bart. I read a biography of Hume that talks about his chase for Black Bart but, of course, from Hume's point of view as a Wells Fargo detective rather than the point of view of the outlaw :-).
ReplyDeleteTam May
The Dream Book Blog
https://thedreambookblog.wordpress.com