The Unafraid

by Eleanor M. Ingram

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

374 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1913

Reviews

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part, this is my favorite of the three Ingram novels I've read. I liked the main characters (although the heroine strayed into ninny territory every once in a while), and I found it absorbing. The ending maybe fell a little flat for me, and I didn't like that we lost Danilo, but overall it was an entertaining romantic adventure story.

[grosbeak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A proto abduction-romance: an American heiress (Miss Delight Warren) attempts to elope with a charming Montenegrin officer (Michael Balsic) after a whirlwind romance, only to be kidnapped by his forbidding older brother (Count Stefan Balsic) in order to keep her money out of the hands of the treacherous and dissipated Lieutenant Michael. But of course the only way to keep her honorably in his household is to marry her…

This has the trademark Eleanor M. Ingram tropes: passionate loyalty expressed as love between a nobleman and his devoted aide de camp (in this case, Danilo Lesendra, who also becomes a genuine friend to Delight, while being tangled in dark machinations set in motion by the evil Michael); fast cars; an American embracing a new life and home in a highly romanticized and feudal “old world”. Unlike others I’ve read, this one has a bittersweet ending rather than a purely happy one. Lesendra dies saving Stefan from a bullet, proving his love in an ecstasy of sacrifice.

Would probably have aged better if it were set in “Ruritania” or “Graustark” rather than Montenegro—especially after the 20th century, the pervasive orientalism and sweeping ethnic judgments about different Balkan peoples (especially the stereotypes of greasy and shifty Muslim Bosnians) have particularly unpleasant resonances.