The Cobbler of Nimes

by Mary Imlay Taylor

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277 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

Mary Imlay Taylor was a dedicated and prolific American author of historical romance novels at the turn of the 20th century.

Reviews

[Peter McGinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t find a review or description of this old novel anywhere. Written somewhere around 1900, you can find it on Amazon packaged by entrepreneurs as kindle books for around $4, or you can get it free on Gutenburg.org. I guess I would classify it as a book that is more important historically than for its literary merit, though for all I know it may have influenced many contemporary authors of hers.

It doesn’t appear to be a French Revolution novel as much as pre-history, it taking place while the royals and Catholics were still doing the burning, hanging, torturing and imprisoning of those who didn’t believe as they did. The Protestants would get their chance later (during most periods in history I am very grateful for being an atheist and not dying for the privilege),

I suppose the hero and heroine of the story are the two young lovers. She is one of those breathtaking, sweet, innocent (etc., etc.) blonde teenagers that every man who comes within 50 feet of fall hopelessly in love with. Including the evil villain of the story, who will do anything to win and enslave her. This type of villain is more of a cliche tha anything (“But I can’t pay the rent!” “But you must pay the rent!”) With her ending up tied to a railroad track. But to be fair, this novel was written long enough ago to perhaps be creating cliches rather than succumbing to them.

The real hero of the story is the humpbacked cobbler. His actions drive the plot and his bravery is unmatched. In the long run, however, very little good comes his way because of it. No good deed…

I would have liked the young beauty more if she had been less innocent and perhaps tweaked the nose of the villain herself at times, but her role is to be saved, so there it is.