Sir Mortimer

by Mary Johnston

Mary Johnston (1870-1936) was an American novelist and women's rights advocate. Johnston wrote historical books and novels that often combined romance with history. Her first book Prisoners of Hope (1898) dealt with colonial times in Virginia as did her second novel To Have and to Hold (1900) and 1904's Sir Mortimer. The Goddess of Reason (1907) uses the theme of the French Revolution and in Lewis Rand (1908), the author portrayed political life at the dawn of the 19th century. To Have and to Hold was serialised in The Atlantic Monthly in 1899 and published in 1900 by Houghton Mifflin. The book proved enormously popular and according to the New York Times was the bestselling novel in the United States in 1900. Johnston's next work titled Audrey was the 5th bestselling book in the U.S. in 1902, as was Sir Mortimer in 1904. Beyond her native America, Johnston's novels were also very popular in Canada and in England. Other works include The Long Roll (1911), Cease Firing (1912), Hagar (1913), The Witch (1914), The Wanderers (1917), and Foes (1918).

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

The daughter of an American Civil War soldier who became a successful lawyer, Mary Johnston was born in the small town of Buchanan, Virginia. A small and frail girl, she was educated at home by family and tutors. She grew up with a love of books and was financially independent enough to devote herself to writing.

Johnston wrote historical books and novels that often combined romance with history. Her novels were bestsellers in America, Canada and England.

During her long career, in addition to twenty-three novels, Johnston wrote a number of short stories, one drama, and two long narrative poems. She used her fame to advocate women's rights, strongly supporting the women's suffrage movement.

Reviews

[AJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically, another romance novel. However, out of 13 chapters only three chapters deal with romance, one at the beginning, one in the middle, one at the end. Otherwise it's a novel about pirates! Or more specifically privateers. I found amazing that a woman wrote I swashbuckling story at the turn of the 20th century. Sir Mortimer was the #5 best seller in 1904. There's a good story in here that is sometimes hard to find because of very cumbersome language.

In the late 16th century, a squadron of privateers lay siege to the Spanish town of Nueva Cordoba on the northern coast of Venezuela. They fail because of the Spanish being tipped off to their attack and two of four ships are lost. A captain of one of the ships claims to be the traitor. Apparently other captains don't want to condemn their favorite so he is given leave from punishment and becomes a pirate seeking revenge on the Spanish. Later seeking redemption he assumes the persona of a Spanish friar tending to sick privateers under Sir Francis Drake. I'll leave out the unforeseen twist at the end.

While not the easiest read, it was a good story.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story with pirates included! I really liked this one. When I read it, I instantly reread the last half to catch all the fun nuances. It's fast-paced and pure fun to read. My edition was the first edition in the early 1900s, and had several beautiful illustrations included.

[Chet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short but powerful novel written in the grand-scale style of E.R. Eddison and James Fenimore Cooper.

[Tripp]

Signed

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a chapter or so to convince myself I would fully enjoy this book. And I did! The stiffer language style was difficult at first. And I recommend keeping a good-quality dictionary app handy. But my appreciation and enjoyment grew as I became immersed in the world of 16th century gallantry and adventure. Having read Johnston's To Have and To Hold, I knew to expect plenty of action. And I especially loved reading the 1904 first edition with illustrations pasted in.

Highly recommended for adventurous souls!

[L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhere, buried beneath the weight of an obsolete dictionary, lies the seed of a potentially interesting story about a man fighting for redemption after he's blamed for a disaster. If only someone would rake aside all these words (and burn them) so the little seed could have a chance to grow and blossom.

Less is more, Mary. Less is more.