Abner Daniel: A Novel

by William N. Harben

A Georgoa author's novel about the lives of poor southerners and the problems they encounter in the South of his age.

312 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

William Nathaniel Harben was one of the most popular American authors of the early 20th century.

Reviews

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I prefer to read contemporary books from the past to learn about what society used to be like rather than reading through a modern lens. It's always a bit of a challenge to read a story written in this time period (post-Civil War) because the language is also of the time. The author used phonetic spelling in all of the dialog to illustrate the characters' dialect, which only took a few minutes to glide into. As with many stories written in the late 19th-early 20th Century, the reader feels like they have stepped into a regular day in the life of the characters, where nothing much is happening. The title character, Abner Daniel, is the town philosopher, stepping in to impart wisdom whenever needed. I thoroughly enjoyed his two cents. Thankfully, the plot required no leaps of faith and ended on a happy note. The story was engaging enough to keep me reading with interest to the end.

I give three stars most novels I finish reading without regret.