A DIME FOR ROMANCE: Daughters of Valor Series

In 1861, Abe Lincoln is said to have paid out some small change for a few of the dime novels of Metta Fuller Victor. In this run-through of Metta's early years, when she first began writing down her exotic romances during school hours, the author has thoroughly captured the atmosphere, which must have prevailed in a small Ohio town during the mid-nineteenth century. The fiction which has been added blends well; the dialogue and descriptions seem to have come straight from one of Metta's own highly embroidered books. And, Miss Maher has put her knowledge of dime novels to good use; the end result is not heavily elaborate, but rather light and amusing. An enjoyable biography by the author of Their Shining Hour (1960, p. 384, J-162), another title in this series.