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The Hundredth Chance
Introduction by Barbara Cartland
The Hundredth Chance is one of Ethel M. Dell's most passionate and dramatic tales. Maud, her sensitive, unhappy heroine, who adores her crippled brother, Lord Saltash, the aristocratic, mocking villain, and Jake - the strong, silent, deeply passionate hero - are all animated with pulsating, often primitive emotions which I found enthralling sixty years ago, and still do.
Only this compelling writer could keep us on tenterhooks until the very last few pages in case the tale does not end happily.
Read this book and you will find, like me, that you cannot put it down.
The Hundredth Chance is one of Ethel M. Dell's most passionate and dramatic tales. Maud, her sensitive, unhappy heroine, who adores her crippled brother, Lord Saltash, the aristocratic, mocking villain, and Jake - the strong, silent, deeply passionate hero - are all animated with pulsating, often primitive emotions which I found enthralling sixty years ago, and still do.
Only this compelling writer could keep us on tenterhooks until the very last few pages in case the tale does not end happily.
Read this book and you will find, like me, that you cannot put it down.
306 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1917
About the author
Ethel M. Dell
149 books13 followersEthel M. Dell (2 August 1881 – 19 September 1939) was a British writer of over 30 popular romance novels and several short stories from 1911 to 1939.
Ethel May Dell was born on 2 August 1881 in Streatham, a suburb of London, England. Her father was a clerk in the City of London and she had an older sister and brother. Her family was middle class and lived a comfortable life. Ethel Dell was a very shy, quiet girl and was content to be dominated by her family. She began to write stories while very young and many of them were published in popular magazines. Beneath her shy exterior, she had a passionate heart and most of her stories were stories of passion and love set in India and other old British colonial possessions. They were considered to be very racy and her cousins would pull out pencils to try and count up the number of times she used the words: passion, tremble, pant and thrill. Pictures of her are very rare and she was never interviewed by the press.
Ethel Dell worked on a novel for several years, but it was rejected by eight publishers. Finally the publisher T. Fisher Unwin bought the book for their First Novel Library, a series which introduced a writer's first book. This book, entitled The Way of an Eagle, was published in 1911 and by 1915 it had gone through thirty printings.
Her debut novel is very characteristic of Ethel M. Dell's novels. There is a very feminine woman, an alpha male, a setting in India, passion galore liberally mixed with some surprisingly shocking violence and religious sentiments sprinkled throughout.
While readers adored Ethel M. Dell's novels, critics hated them with a passion; but she did not care what the critics thought. She considered herself a good storyteller – nothing more and nothing less. Ethel M. Dell continued to write novels for a number of years. She made quite a lot of money, from £20,000 to £30,000 a year, but remained quiet and almost pathologically shy.
In 1922, Ethel Dell married a soldier, Lieutenant-Colonel Gerald Tahourdin Savage, when she was forty years old, and the marriage was happy. Colonel Savage resigned his commission on his marriage and Ethel Dell became the support of the family. Her husband devoted himself to her and fiercely guarded her privacy. For her part she went on writing, eventually producing about thirty novels and several volumes of short stories. Ethel's married name is recorded as Ethel Mary Savage.
Ethel M. Dell died of cancer on 19 September 1939, at 58.
(from Wikipedia)
Ethel May Dell was born on 2 August 1881 in Streatham, a suburb of London, England. Her father was a clerk in the City of London and she had an older sister and brother. Her family was middle class and lived a comfortable life. Ethel Dell was a very shy, quiet girl and was content to be dominated by her family. She began to write stories while very young and many of them were published in popular magazines. Beneath her shy exterior, she had a passionate heart and most of her stories were stories of passion and love set in India and other old British colonial possessions. They were considered to be very racy and her cousins would pull out pencils to try and count up the number of times she used the words: passion, tremble, pant and thrill. Pictures of her are very rare and she was never interviewed by the press.
Ethel Dell worked on a novel for several years, but it was rejected by eight publishers. Finally the publisher T. Fisher Unwin bought the book for their First Novel Library, a series which introduced a writer's first book. This book, entitled The Way of an Eagle, was published in 1911 and by 1915 it had gone through thirty printings.
Her debut novel is very characteristic of Ethel M. Dell's novels. There is a very feminine woman, an alpha male, a setting in India, passion galore liberally mixed with some surprisingly shocking violence and religious sentiments sprinkled throughout.
While readers adored Ethel M. Dell's novels, critics hated them with a passion; but she did not care what the critics thought. She considered herself a good storyteller – nothing more and nothing less. Ethel M. Dell continued to write novels for a number of years. She made quite a lot of money, from £20,000 to £30,000 a year, but remained quiet and almost pathologically shy.
In 1922, Ethel Dell married a soldier, Lieutenant-Colonel Gerald Tahourdin Savage, when she was forty years old, and the marriage was happy. Colonel Savage resigned his commission on his marriage and Ethel Dell became the support of the family. Her husband devoted himself to her and fiercely guarded her privacy. For her part she went on writing, eventually producing about thirty novels and several volumes of short stories. Ethel's married name is recorded as Ethel Mary Savage.
Ethel M. Dell died of cancer on 19 September 1939, at 58.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 5, 2018
I hardly know how to categorize this romantic drama, but it gets four stars simply because I read it in four hours and didn’t have a clue it was 557 pages until I looked it up online to add it to the book record here. Whew!
There is no way not to give away some large chunks of the plot if I really talk about what I did and did not like about the story. The writing is engaging and the characters are vivid. There is a gentle thread of Christianity in the form of Mrs. Wright’s encouraging speech and in a church service that takes up a brief scene, but Dell obviously expected her readers to be familiar with the passages and understand the implications of the moral points she was making by themselves, because she doesn’t moralize in the books at all. Her opinion is clear if you add two plus two, but those who aren’t familiar with Christian theology may miss a bit simply by reason of the subtlety of it all. It is, quite obviously, general market fiction.
I wanted to whack most of the main characters upside the head through most of the book. Their motivations were pretty clear throughout, and why Maud in particular believed she had no other course, but I didn’t like it and I especially hated that big skunk Charlie.
Well-written and very nearly a melodrama but the writing talent saves it from that designation.
Content: a violent scene between Maud and her stepfather; several swears.
There is no way not to give away some large chunks of the plot if I really talk about what I did and did not like about the story. The writing is engaging and the characters are vivid. There is a gentle thread of Christianity in the form of Mrs. Wright’s encouraging speech and in a church service that takes up a brief scene, but Dell obviously expected her readers to be familiar with the passages and understand the implications of the moral points she was making by themselves, because she doesn’t moralize in the books at all. Her opinion is clear if you add two plus two, but those who aren’t familiar with Christian theology may miss a bit simply by reason of the subtlety of it all. It is, quite obviously, general market fiction.
I wanted to whack most of the main characters upside the head through most of the book. Their motivations were pretty clear throughout, and why Maud in particular believed she had no other course, but I didn’t like it and I especially hated that big skunk Charlie.
Well-written and very nearly a melodrama but the writing talent saves it from that designation.
Content: a violent scene between Maud and her stepfather; several swears.
June 8, 2020
I've been joking about how this book is just dripping with sexual subtext, and if you have a dirty mind like I do, you'll see it too. But what it boils down to is this:
In an effort to escape her spank-happy stepfather, Maud Brian turns to Jake Bolton, a man who knows how to use a whip and use it well. She talks Jake into a marriage of convenience. Jake wants a marriage and convenience, if you know what I mean. For most of the book the couple lives out the old adage marry in haste, repent at leisure.
I like Jake. To use a term from the times, he's a brick. He's straightforward, strong, giving, understanding, loyal and patient. Its Maud I couldn't stand. She is everything opposite and then some. She's the kind of character who gets on your last nerve and refuses to get off of it. It's all about her and her drama. Oh, the pain! Oh, the betrayal! Oh, the unbearable lightness of being! Oh, shut up!
You deserve better, Jake.
In an effort to escape her spank-happy stepfather, Maud Brian turns to Jake Bolton, a man who knows how to use a whip and use it well. She talks Jake into a marriage of convenience. Jake wants a marriage and convenience, if you know what I mean. For most of the book the couple lives out the old adage marry in haste, repent at leisure.
I like Jake. To use a term from the times, he's a brick. He's straightforward, strong, giving, understanding, loyal and patient. Its Maud I couldn't stand. She is everything opposite and then some. She's the kind of character who gets on your last nerve and refuses to get off of it. It's all about her and her drama. Oh, the pain! Oh, the betrayal! Oh, the unbearable lightness of being! Oh, shut up!
You deserve better, Jake.
March 1, 2018
The only thing I disliked about the male protagonist was his choice in a wife. The only thing I liked about the female protagonist was her choice in husband. She was selfish, stuck up, a snob, and SELFISH!
March 31, 2019
4* I enjoyed this old-fashioned story, though the main character (Maud) was always tired due to kicking against the pricks, and her lack of judgement frustrated me. Jake Bolton and the horses are what I like most about the story.
4* A great old book, and a satisfying read.
4* A great old book, and a satisfying read.
February 1, 2023
This has been a frustrating read, mostly because of how Dell has written Maud’s character. She trembles, shivers, cries and collapses repeatedly. She clearly doesn’t have half a brain cell or the strength to stand either.
On the other hand, Jake is the rock that holds down this story. He’s so kind to his wife but the way he demands his rights leaves a bitter aftertaste.
On the whole this wasn’t an enjoyable read, it’s an example of a marriage of necessity.
Don’t read this if you are looking for a romance. ‘Charles Rex’ the sequel to this, had more romance and was much more enjoyable. I recommend reading the sequel first, that’s what I did.
3 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
On the other hand, Jake is the rock that holds down this story. He’s so kind to his wife but the way he demands his rights leaves a bitter aftertaste.
On the whole this wasn’t an enjoyable read, it’s an example of a marriage of necessity.
Don’t read this if you are looking for a romance. ‘Charles Rex’ the sequel to this, had more romance and was much more enjoyable. I recommend reading the sequel first, that’s what I did.
3 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
February 10, 2015
When I first discovered Ethel M. Dell, I enjoyed her romances quite a bit. They're seriously over the top, of course, but that can make for a fun guilty-read (especially on a snowy winter's day). With this novel, however, I think I have reached the point of diminishing returns.
Wikipedia describes Dell's typical novel as containing: "a very feminine woman, an alpha male, a setting in India, passion galore liberally mixed with some surprisingly shocking violence and religious sentiments sprinkled throughout." The Hundredth Chance is not set in India, but it does contain every other element in that list, with an emphasis on surprisingly shocking violence. Every other chapter seems to contain a beating or assault: a man beating his twenty-five-year-old step-daughter because he thinks she needs a good spanking (appalling enough on its own, but Dell adds a sexual component to make it even worse); the hero beating various animals and stable workers and threatening others (he takes alpha male to a new level); and long before the invention of roofies, a man slipping a drug into a woman's drink for nefarious purposes. All very disturbing.
Even more disturbing was the hero and heroine's relationship in the novel. I'm no fan of modern romances where the heroes are always impossibly handsome, impossibly muscular, etc., but I'm also not a fan of heroes who are described as unattractive physically with even more unattractive personalities (amusingly, the frontispiece to the Grosset & Dunlap edition scanned into Google shows a handsome, stalwart hero who is as unlike the book's description as possible). In this instance, the hero takes advantage of the heroine's desperate situation to manipulate her into what she expects will be a marriage of convenience. He wants more and eventually gets it, more or less against her will. She submits--because she has no choice--and that makes for a very unpleasant story line. Maybe Dell didn't mean to portray him as a rapist, but that's essentially what he is (or, given the sexualized violence earlier in the story, maybe she did).
The heroine is not much better. She doesn't want to marry the hero, but has no other option for escaping her psychotic stepfather. Once married, she becomes distraught over ridiculous things like hearing the hero cuss or seeing him drunk. The latter instance (which turns out to be a mistake, he's actually reeling from a head wound) was truly bizarre. She has a major meltdown over his supposed drunkenness: "this thing had raised up a barrier between them that could never be broken down" and refuses to let him explain what really happened. Her inflexible attitude--Carrie Nation would have been less judgmental--was baffling and made it hard to sympathize with her. Worse still, she seems to spend the second half of the book doing little but weeping, trembling or fainting. Very tedious and especially disappointing after the beginning when she seemed made of sterner stuff.
Ultimately the story ends as a romance must, but since I spent the whole novel unreconciled to that end, I really can't consider it anything close to a success. Not the worst I've read by any stretch, but far from as enjoyable as I would have liked.
Wikipedia describes Dell's typical novel as containing: "a very feminine woman, an alpha male, a setting in India, passion galore liberally mixed with some surprisingly shocking violence and religious sentiments sprinkled throughout." The Hundredth Chance is not set in India, but it does contain every other element in that list, with an emphasis on surprisingly shocking violence. Every other chapter seems to contain a beating or assault: a man beating his twenty-five-year-old step-daughter because he thinks she needs a good spanking (appalling enough on its own, but Dell adds a sexual component to make it even worse); the hero beating various animals and stable workers and threatening others (he takes alpha male to a new level); and long before the invention of roofies, a man slipping a drug into a woman's drink for nefarious purposes. All very disturbing.
Even more disturbing was the hero and heroine's relationship in the novel. I'm no fan of modern romances where the heroes are always impossibly handsome, impossibly muscular, etc., but I'm also not a fan of heroes who are described as unattractive physically with even more unattractive personalities (amusingly, the frontispiece to the Grosset & Dunlap edition scanned into Google shows a handsome, stalwart hero who is as unlike the book's description as possible). In this instance, the hero takes advantage of the heroine's desperate situation to manipulate her into what she expects will be a marriage of convenience. He wants more and eventually gets it, more or less against her will. She submits--because she has no choice--and that makes for a very unpleasant story line. Maybe Dell didn't mean to portray him as a rapist, but that's essentially what he is (or, given the sexualized violence earlier in the story, maybe she did).
The heroine is not much better. She doesn't want to marry the hero, but has no other option for escaping her psychotic stepfather. Once married, she becomes distraught over ridiculous things like hearing the hero cuss or seeing him drunk. The latter instance (which turns out to be a mistake, he's actually reeling from a head wound) was truly bizarre. She has a major meltdown over his supposed drunkenness: "this thing had raised up a barrier between them that could never be broken down" and refuses to let him explain what really happened. Her inflexible attitude--Carrie Nation would have been less judgmental--was baffling and made it hard to sympathize with her. Worse still, she seems to spend the second half of the book doing little but weeping, trembling or fainting. Very tedious and especially disappointing after the beginning when she seemed made of sterner stuff.
Ultimately the story ends as a romance must, but since I spent the whole novel unreconciled to that end, I really can't consider it anything close to a success. Not the worst I've read by any stretch, but far from as enjoyable as I would have liked.
Read
June 10, 2014For a time back in the 80’s & 90’s, my reading material of choice was frequently bodice rippers, historical fiction, and regency romances with a few contemporary best sellers thrown in for good measure. Most of them were pretty steamy (blush) &/or overly romantic, but I read them during a time in my life when I found myself as a single parent, and these books fit the bill. I found them to be highly entertaining.
I recently donated a slew of them, but I wanted to catalog them all the same. So if there is no rating here from me, it means that I don’t remember anything about the book other than I obviously read it. If there is a rating, it must have been in some way memorable for me.
I only wish that GoodReads had been around years ago so that I had some idea of the many books I have read – there were thousands! I did own a copy of this book, but most others came from the library because back then I could never have afforded the 100+ books I generally read in any given year.
And by the way, I still read bodice rippers – just not quite so many as I used to!
I recently donated a slew of them, but I wanted to catalog them all the same. So if there is no rating here from me, it means that I don’t remember anything about the book other than I obviously read it. If there is a rating, it must have been in some way memorable for me.
I only wish that GoodReads had been around years ago so that I had some idea of the many books I have read – there were thousands! I did own a copy of this book, but most others came from the library because back then I could never have afforded the 100+ books I generally read in any given year.
And by the way, I still read bodice rippers – just not quite so many as I used to!
January 16, 2015
This book is a classic bodice ripper though not explicit. Maud is pointlessly dull and stupid and even though I like Jake he is sorta a rapist. ( So yes, I feel more pity for the rapist but Maud is mostly having a affair with her old boyfriend so it makes me have less sympathy with her.) I get the idea that Dell really doesn't understand human behavior and most of her characters are insane. Dell must have been the Stephanie Edwards of her era. She is probably disappointed she didn't come up with the sparkly vampires idea. It's the kinda book that reminds me why I hate this genre.
Want to Read
September 3, 2014Read this book for free through Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43069/...
January 26, 2016
4* A great old book, and a satisfying read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews