Thomas Mine Reed - American or English author? "Headless Horseman" and other novels

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Among the not so numerous works written by Mine Reed published in Russia, the most popular are those in which brave Indians fight against pale-faced invaders - “The White Leader”, “Quarteronka”, “In Search of the White Buffalo” and “Osceola, Chief of the Seminole." These adventure novels are set in America. Hence the misconception that they were written by an American author. "The Headless Horseman" does not stand out from the general series, since the Indians are also present there, and the action takes place in Texas. And let the main character be Irish by origin, but his beloved is a 100% American.

By the way, not only the brave Maurice Gerald is a native of the Emerald Isle. And the author of the book "The Headless Horseman" was born in the Irish village of Ballyroni. He sincerely considered himself Irish, despite the fact that both of his parents were full-blooded Scots. From Ireland, he went in search of adventure across the ocean. He returned there after the end of the Mexican War, in which he took part.

After marrying Thomasdecides to start earning a living by writing, fortunately, that his father-in-law is a publisher. In 1865, the famous "Headless Horseman" was published. The author himself did not expect that his book would be such a success. On this wave, he decides to return to the States again and establish his own magazine there. But he fails. Oddly enough, Americans perceive the author's new novels not at all as fervently as he expected and as they deserve it. No, he is read, praised, published and even translated into foreign languages, but he cannot repeat the success that The Headless Horseman brought him.

The author returns to England again and no longer leaves it. At this time, he writes many popular science books, designed primarily for a youthful audience. But do not forget about art books. That's when the historical novel The White Glove comes out.

But all this is not the same, and the author himself knows about it. The Headless Horseman turned out to be the perfect adventure novel, and Mine Reed is not destined to repeat such a feat. One of the Russian classics, it seems, Turgenev, said very interestingly about this novel. We will not quote verbatim, since we do not have the exact text at hand. But the meaning is something like this: “Yesterday I finished reading Mine Reed. Well done author. The Headless Horseman is such a powerful book that an adult, intelligent person followed for several hours, without stopping, the actions of fools.

You can disagree with the classicabout the fact that the heroes of the novel are fools, but the skill of Mine Reed is impossible to deny. And Russian readers quite appreciated it. As paradoxical as it sounds, both Mine Reed and his books are more popular in Russia than in his homeland. We remember novels, we know who their author is. "The Headless Horseman" rightfully takes pride of place on the youth bookshelves next to "The Odyssey of Captain Blood", "The Last of the Mohicans" and "Tom Sawyer". And the novel is not only read by boys. Many girlish tears shed on the pages describing the love of Maurice and Louise. Sad in the middle of the novel, when people and circumstances separate the lovers, and happy at the end, when loving hearts are united forever.