Old Rose & Silver

Old Rose & Silver / Myrtle Reed
NY: Putnam, c1909.
364 p.

Reading along for my Century of Books project, I picked up a novel by an old favourite, Myrtle Reed. She wrote many romances in the early part of the 20th C. and they are often quite similar: lots of beautiful women, upstanding men, and obstacles (usually in the guise of a younger, flashier woman) in their way. And there are always many philosophical, quoteable passages in her books as well, though some are a little out of date with current thought, not surprisingly. 

In this story we have the "Old Rose", Rose, a spinster of nearly 40 who lives with her aged aunt. She is a lovely, musical, intelligent woman. Then arrives the "Silver", young Isabel, a cousin who is just 20, and is spoiled and flighty, not really interested in books or music or any of the things that Rose and Aunt Francesca love. But she needs a place to stay since her emancipated mother has left her alone again (another common dig at the suffragette, or women's rights trailblazers from this era: Reed doesn't seem to care for them, domesticity is her purview). 

And then, old friends return to their home next door -- Aunt Francesca's old friend Colonel Kent and his violinist son Allison who is 30. Precise ages are very important in this story.

We can see where this story is going, sort of. Allison is torn between his attraction to both Rose and Isabel, and much is made of the fact that Rose is older than him (particularly by Isabel herself). 

But there are other elements to this story. There are a set of 20 yr old twins living nearby, who are uncouth, uncivilized bumpkins, but they are also quite rich thanks to a legacy. They are the comic relief, and the comedic scenes are very broad and rather ridiculous at times. These two have a direct impact on the outcome of the story in ways that seem a little bit of a stretch for the reader. 

This is not the best of Myrtle Reed, but it's still an enjoyable light read. You know that everybody will get their just rewards here, and there are some sweet moments in the book between Rose and Aunt Francesca -- it's nice to see a strong female friendship and not just competitive cattiness. She wrote a few others that I haven't yet read, so those may be in my near future. It's relaxing to read these old romances when your brain is stressed out.