Flighty drama. ( )

Arthur Mervyn is the story of a young man of about 18 as he makes his way in the world during the perilous plague year of 1793. While reading this book, at first I thought the main narrator, Arthur Mervyn himself, is an unreliable storyteller and something of a scoundrel, then, in the second part, he matures and discovers charity and love. The heavy eighteenth-century prose makes this somewhat of a slog to read, but the reader's careful attention is rewarded by a tender story of growing up in difficult times. ( )

Set in Philadelphia and Baltimore and written in an antique, stately and flowery style this novel surprised me by being very readable, interesting and even touching. Was the great American novel already written before the 19th century ever turned? ( )