The Ways of the Hour

Overview

The Ways of the Hour was James Fenimore Cooper's last novel, published in 1850. Set in a rural New York county seat outside New York City, it is a courtroom drama of a woman accused of murder and theft, and of the men and women who defend her case. The surprise ending is perhaps as unexpected as any in crime fiction. Cooper used the novel, among other things, to express his discontent with changes in New York State's judicial system during the 1840s, with the corruption of courts and juries, and with new ideas of women's rights. The accused woman, Mary Monson, is a notable character in her own right. The Ways of the Hour should be considered a classic in the history of the mystery novel -- as it is perhaps the first novel to revolve almost entirely about a courtroom murder trial.

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Author Information

Bio of James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) grew up at Otsego Hall, his father's manorial estate near Lake Otsego in upstate New York. Educated at Yale, he spent five years at sea, as a foremast hand and then as a midshipman in the navy. At thirty he was suddenly plunged into a literary career when his wife challenged his claim that he could write a better book that the English novel he was reading to her. The result was Precaution (1820), a novel of manners. His second book, The Spy (1821), was an immediate success, and with The Pioneers (1823) he began his series of Leatherstocking Tales. By 1826 when The Last of the Mohicans appeared, his standing as a major novelist was clearly established. From 1826 to 1833 Cooper and his family lived and traveled in France, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. Two of his most successful works, The Prairie and The Red Rover, were published in 1827. He returned to Otsego Hall in 1834, and after a series of relatively unsuccessful books of essays, travel sketches, and history, he returned to fiction and to Leatherstocking with The Pathfinder (1840) and The Deerslayer (1841). In his last decade he faced declining popularity brought on in part by his waspish attacks on critics and political opponents. Just before his death in 1851 an edition of his works led to a reappraisal of his fiction and somewhat restored his reputation as the first of American writers.

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Additional Info

Imprint

DIGIREADS.COM

Filesize

495.17 KB

Number of Pages

470

eBook ISBN

9781102295785