Colonel Thorndyke's Secret

by G.A. Henty

The story of a valuable bracelet, of diamonds, stolen from a Hindoo idol by a British soldier in India. This bracelet becomes the possession of Colonel Thorndyke. A little later he is wounded and returns home to England. The secret of the bracelet is told to the Colonel's brother, a country squire, and the treasure is left to younger members of the Thorndyke family.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Adventure

350 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1898

About the author

George Alfred Henty, better known as G.A. Henty, began his storytelling career with his own children. After dinner, he would spend and hour or two in telling them a story that would continue the next day. Some stories took weeks! A friend was present one day and watched the spell-bound reaction of his children suggesting Henty write down his stories so others could enjoy them. He did. Henty wrote approximately 144 books in addition to stories for magazines and was known as "The Prince of Story-Tellers" and "The Boy's Own Historian." One of Mr. Henty's secretaries reported that he would quickly pace back and forth in his study dictating stories as fast as the secretary could record them.

Henty's stories revolve around fictional boy heroes during fascinating periods of history. His heroes are diligent, intelligent, and dedicated to their country and cause in the face, at times, of great peril... Henty's heroes fight wars, sail the seas, discover land, conquer evil empires, prospect for gold, and a host of other exciting adventures. Along the way, they meet famous personages... In short, Henty's heroes live through tumultuous historic eras meeting leaders of that time. Understanding the culture of the time period becomes second nature as well as comparing/contrasting the society of various cultures.

Reviews

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars & 5/10 hearts. Knowing as I do how this book turns out (I’ve read it 1-2 times before), I have a foreboding feeling when I begin it which is somewhat depressing. The chapters concerning Arthur Bastow (10% of the book) especially are difficult to read. Once that stage is passed, it becomes merely interesting for the next 15%. I believe the murder upset me the first few times, but this time it didn’t. The part from Mark’s entry in the Bow Street runners force to MILD SPOILER!! his end in that career END OF SPOILER! (50% of the book) is fascinating and still very exciting. At the 75% mark, it becomes harder to read because of Bastow’s end and poor Ramoo’s story. Note that sucides are mentioned, and one dwelt on; murders are committed though only one is dwelt on; there is a very callous and rebellious young man, mentions of drinking and gambling; and an Indian idol is rather prominent. A sensitive reader would probably have a very hard time reading this book. I love it for that exciting part which is really 3/4 of the book, and the humorous scenes scattered throughout. And by the way, the preface of the book is pretty much a spoiler. You should read it when you finish it, but don’t read it when you begin it!

* review to be updated *

[John Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story was interesting but ending was weak. Characters' reaction to what they learned would not happen today.

[Viva · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going through a bunch of GA Henty's free Kindle books I've downloaded from Amazon. To be honest, it's been a bit of a chore to read some of them. The writing is pretty dated. There are many instances of long writing where simple actions are drawn out by being described laboriously. Some of the narrative is written in a contemporary style which is difficult to read and some of them are just not written up to modern standards that I'm used to. Sometimes the story just isn't good.

Spoilers ahead.

Regarding this one, it had an interesting start. An East Indian army officer brother comes back from India, weakened and near death from injuries and being worn out. He gives his younger brother (Charles? can't remember the name) a bracelet stolen from an Indian temple. He tells him that servants of the temple have been after it and are probably in England already so he should hide it. Then he passes away due to his poor condition.

The next chapters than focus on the younger brother who then caretakes the estate for his brother's young daughter. He generally improves the estate and does a good job. One of the problems is that the rector's son is a young ne'er-do-well, consorting with highwaymen. Charles catches him red handed with the 2 highwaymen who had just robbed a stagecoach and killed the guard.

The son is then sentence to transport to Botany Bay. The next chapters focus on his experience in Australia. And this is when I decided to dnf the book.

I came here to read about Colonel Thorndyke's secret, basically what happens to the bracelet. I bore the story of the younger brother improving the estate pretty well with patience. But I severely dislike element of conflict plots (the criminal son has sworn to come back and repay Charles back) and I also severely dislike changing POVs. So with the long writing and these 2 pet peeves I find myself fully justified to dnf it here.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the usual G.A. Henty story, much more of a mystery. I would have given it more stars if the writing had been better--too many lengthy conversations detailing things we already knew.

[Selah · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING book...LOVE it!! :)

[Nicole Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was so good to read another Henty book after all these years. This particular one was new to me and I enjoyed the drama! :)