Joseph Hocking
Auteur de The Weapons of Mystery
Œuvres de Joseph Hocking
Lest we forget 5 exemplaires
The purple robe 4 exemplaires
Follow the gleam 3 exemplaires
The scarlet woman 3 exemplaires
The Jesuit 2 exemplaires
The Story of Andrew Faifax 2 exemplaires
The mist on the moors; a romance of north Cornwall 2 exemplaires
Munken från Mar-Saba 2 exemplaires
Rosaleen O'Hara 1 exemplaire
Rosaleen O'Hara: A Romance of Ireland 1 exemplaire
Out of the depths 1 exemplaire
The Game and the Candle 1 exemplaire
Det forhånede kors 1 exemplaire
Hvem var Paulina? 1 exemplaire
Not one in ten 1 exemplaire
Deep calleth unto deep 1 exemplaire
'All men are liars' a novel 1 exemplaire
A flame of fire: being the history of the adventures of three Englishmen in Spain at the time of the Great Armada 1 exemplaire
The Constant Enemy 1 exemplaire
The Chariots of the Lord 1 exemplaire
Sham: A story of to-day 1 exemplaire
Rosemary Carew 1 exemplaire
Andrew Boconnoc's will: The story of a crisis 1 exemplaire
The Man Who Almost Lost 1 exemplaire
In the Sweat of Thy Brow 1 exemplaire
Dearer Than Life: A Romance Of The Great War 1 exemplaire
The eternal choice 1 exemplaire
The Woman of Babylon 1 exemplaire
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Sexe
- male
- Relations
- Hocking, Salome (sister)
Hocking, Silas (brother)
Membres
Critiques
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 54
- Membres
- 107
- Popularité
- #180,615
- Évaluation
- 3.8
- Critiques
- 1
- ISBN
- 52
Inspired by his new home, Ben settles down to his writing. However, his solitude is disturbed by a growing conviction that he is under observation - and by a series of strange noises, which seem to be coming from within or underneath the old mansion. Ben also finds himself oddly caught between two young women, one a visitor to England from South Africa with plans to be a teacher, the other a mysterious and elusive figure drawn to the mansion by moonlight; one frank and good-humoured, and a pleasant companion, the other haughty and autocratic, yet alluring; and the two of them so alike, they could be twin sisters...
On the evidence of The Secret Of Trescobell, Joseph Hocking was not a particularly strong writer; yet he published almost 100 books and in his lifetime was extremely popular, so perhaps I just caught him on an "off" day. Hocking was a Methodist minister who often wrote about his beloved Cornwall, and the love of his native soil is evident in this novel. His greatest weakness, as evidenced here, is a tendency to overuse certain words and phrases. He also has trouble making some of his protagonist's actions seem reasonable, resorting to a repeated of the phrase, Strange as it may seem---
On the other hand, Hocking does manage some suspenseful and exciting passages in his story, and some surprises in the unravelling of his mystery. I should stress that this is not a detective story, or a "mystery" in that sense, but a story of hidden motives and identities, which are progressively elucidated.
The most amusing aspect of this novel was possibly unintentional: its air of wish-fulfillment. When the story opens, Ben St Hilary has written four failed novels, yet everyone he meets has read and loves his books. His publishers drop him, and then within weeks he produces a literary masterpiece which makes himself and his new publishers a fortune. What's more, this book is praised for being "clean and wholesome", without any of the "cynically sordid" tendencies of so much modern literature. Whatever we make of the rest, that last is definitely Joseph Hocking having his say.
Not a great read, but a pleasant one.… (plus d'informations)