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The Secret of the Tower
A swashbuckling tale of romance and adventure by the author of The Prisoner of Zenda. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.
- GenresMystery
164 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1919
About the author
Anthony Hope
328 books241 followersProlific English novelist and playwright Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins especially composed adventure. People remember him best only for book
The Prisoner of Zenda
(1894) and its sequel book
Rupert of Hentzau
(1898). These works, "minor classics" of English literature, set in the contemporaneous fictional country of Ruritania, spawned the genre, known as Ruritanian romance. Zenda inspired many adaptations, most notably the Hollywood movie of 1937 of the same name.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 27, 2024
Not nearly as good as Prisoner of Zenda. Slow start, with last 100 pages being decent.
May 6, 2012
Not Quite a Mystery or a Romance
Anthony Hope is best known for two other titles, The Prisoner of Zenda and Rupert of Hentzau. The Secret of the Tower was published in 1919 and takes place in a little village just outside of London.
Something odd is going on in Cottage Tower and the townsfolk of Inkston are trying to figure it out. The main characters of this book are Dr. Mary, Cynthia, Captain Naylor, Mr. Saffron, Beaumaroy, Dr. Irechester, and a handful of others.
Old Mr. Saffron is the owner of Cottage Tower and he's taken on two companions. Once a week the elderly man and one of his new guests, Beaumaroy, take a trip into London. The pair return the same day lugging a heavy brown bag.
The story started out with promise and I was clicking quickly to see what would happen next. Unfortunately things seemed to fizzle about 60% in. It was an interesting story even though there wasn't a clear murder or crime. I was enjoying myself, but sadly toward the end it lost its intrigue.
I found Hope's writing style a bit odd. He has a habit of backing into things. He will go on for a few pages offering detail and then tell you what he's specifically talking about. This happened on many occasions. The book opens with two females talking. One is crying and very upset about something. After five or six pages of this we are finally told who they are, what they're doing, and why one of them is upset. This backwards writing became bothersome after a while.
The free Kindle edition is well edited and there aren't many transfer issues. I did see a handful of places that appeared _like_ this. I assume it was _supposed_ to be italicized.
This book also has a sexist tone or treatment of women. Dr. Mary Arkroyd is a female doctor and the author uses sarcasm and jabs to point out his feelings on the subject. Come to think of it, I didn't like the way he portrayed any of the females in this book. I realize this was written nearly 100 years ago and times were different then, BUT I've read many classics and haven't encountered one with these same attitudes. They were subtle, but definitely present. It appears Hope thought all women were silly, gossipy, or inferior nincompoops.
I will pick up The Prisoner of Zenda and see if Anthony Hope continues this viewpoint of women in that story as well.
Anthony Hope is best known for two other titles, The Prisoner of Zenda and Rupert of Hentzau. The Secret of the Tower was published in 1919 and takes place in a little village just outside of London.
Something odd is going on in Cottage Tower and the townsfolk of Inkston are trying to figure it out. The main characters of this book are Dr. Mary, Cynthia, Captain Naylor, Mr. Saffron, Beaumaroy, Dr. Irechester, and a handful of others.
Old Mr. Saffron is the owner of Cottage Tower and he's taken on two companions. Once a week the elderly man and one of his new guests, Beaumaroy, take a trip into London. The pair return the same day lugging a heavy brown bag.
The story started out with promise and I was clicking quickly to see what would happen next. Unfortunately things seemed to fizzle about 60% in. It was an interesting story even though there wasn't a clear murder or crime. I was enjoying myself, but sadly toward the end it lost its intrigue.
I found Hope's writing style a bit odd. He has a habit of backing into things. He will go on for a few pages offering detail and then tell you what he's specifically talking about. This happened on many occasions. The book opens with two females talking. One is crying and very upset about something. After five or six pages of this we are finally told who they are, what they're doing, and why one of them is upset. This backwards writing became bothersome after a while.
The free Kindle edition is well edited and there aren't many transfer issues. I did see a handful of places that appeared _like_ this. I assume it was _supposed_ to be italicized.
This book also has a sexist tone or treatment of women. Dr. Mary Arkroyd is a female doctor and the author uses sarcasm and jabs to point out his feelings on the subject. Come to think of it, I didn't like the way he portrayed any of the females in this book. I realize this was written nearly 100 years ago and times were different then, BUT I've read many classics and haven't encountered one with these same attitudes. They were subtle, but definitely present. It appears Hope thought all women were silly, gossipy, or inferior nincompoops.
I will pick up The Prisoner of Zenda and see if Anthony Hope continues this viewpoint of women in that story as well.
February 1, 2011
The "mystery" was rather unsatisfactory. It was also a little hard to understand, since I'm not familiar with whatever was going on in Morocco during WWI. I did like a lot of the book, though. It was funny when
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews