''The Choir Invisible'' is a novel by
James Lane Allen
James Lane Allen (December 21, 1849 – February 18, 1925) was an American novelist and short story writer whose work, including the novel '' A Kentucky Cardinal'', often depicted the culture and dialects of his native Kentucky. His work is charac ...
published in 1897. A bestseller,
[(6 October 1946)]
Fifty Years of Best Sellers
compiled in ''Popular Culture''[(19 February 1925)]
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' it was the
second-best selling book in the United States for 1897.
A poignant love story, it is set in
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
in 1795 and begins with a portion of the poem "Choir Invisible" by
George Eliot. Though criticized for lacking depth, being full of digressions, and "artistically disappointing", it was his most popular novel. An 1897 review in ''
The Atlantic Monthly
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' faulted the book for its "meagre" structure, yet praised its tone and style. The book is often regarded as Allen's best work.
The novel was developed from a novelette Allen published in 1893 titled "John Gray: A Kentucky Tale of the Olden Time".
[Bottorff]
p. 161, note 2
References
External links
The Choir Invisible(full scan, via Google books)
Review from 1897finding beauty in the book but faulting it for lack of balance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choir Invisible, The
1897 American novels
Novels set in Kentucky