The flying Mercury

by Eleanor M. Ingram

This book was digitized and reprinted from the collections of the University of California Libraries. It was produced from digital images created through the libraries’ mass digitization efforts. The digital images were cleaned and prepared for printing through automated processes. Despite the cleaning process, occasional flaws may still be present that were part of the original work itself, or introduced during digitization. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found online in the HathiTrust Digital Library at www.hathitrust.org.

Genres: Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1910

Reviews

[Louie the Mustache Matos]

Late last year, I read The Thing From the Lake, a fascinating ghost story from an author I had never heard of, Eleanor M. Ingram, born 1886, died 1921, the same year Thing From the Lake was published. She died at 35, after experiencing moderate success, and very little else is known about her. However, I was intrigued to the point of finding other works she had written. Flying Mercury is the third book of hers, I've read.

The Flying Mercury is a fantasy, race-car, soap opera romance. Much like the vintage movies, the book was published in 1910 (over 100 years ago) so there's a classic aura to the plot. Emily, the adopted daughter of a business magnate, is charged with the responsibility of marrying someone capable of taking charge of the family business of car production, since she is the only accepted heir to the family fortune. Her cousin seems to be the only acceptable heir to the business, but he is irresponsible and flighty. More to her taste is a lowly race car driver that tests the Mercurys for the company, but of course, he is "unworthy" of her because he is of a differing status.

I liked the story a great deal, although the story feels very familiar. Remember though that this was written before the plot became a trope for romantic books for Harlequin and such. Take that with a grain of salt. I have a thing for Ingram books and I make no bones about it. My buddy Steve says that I should include more quotes: "I have thought of it often. Every one else that I know just lives the way things happen--there are only a few people who grasp things and make them happen. That is real work; so many of us are just given work we do not want.” Contextually, this makes perfect sense.

[Hannah]

4.5 stars
A quick, enjoyable read. A sweet old romance with a surprising turn of affairs. David and Emily are supposedly far apart socially, but he proves himself to be a man of honor toward her, even as he works toward his own goal of success. The relationships with each character are enjoyable.

Recommended for those who enjoy the short romances of Paul Leicester Ford and Ralph Henry Barbour.

[Susan Molloy]

✔️Published in the turn of the century.

Sort of an early take on an Elvis-style movie with race cars and girls. This is how I see it.

🟤 Gutenberg Project.
🟣Kindle version.

[Sophie]

This is a sweet little romance centered around automobiles and early auto racing. Not much to it, really. Just a man and woman falling in love and then finding out they're cousins...Wait, what? (At least they were completely unfazed by it. I think I might have had a few qualms in their shoes.) A few other oddities: the nickname "Darling" Lestrange for the hero was difficult to swallow—especially when other male characters addressed him that way. And he was presented as something more than super-human:

The daring, the reckless courage that risked life for victory, the generosity which could throw that victory away to aid a comrade, and lastly the determination and skill which had won the conquest after all—the whole formed a feat too spectacular to escape public hysteria.

but that's par for the course in novels such as these, and part of what makes them a guilty pleasure for me.