Archibald Marshall, a Realistic Novelist

"Archibald Marshall, a Realistic Novelist" by William Lyon Phelps is an early 20th-century literary analysis that looks at the novels of Archibald Marshall, a writer famous for his true-to-life stories about English country living. Phelps takes a look at Marshall's writing style, the ideas he wrote about, and how he created his characters, arguing that he was an important author of realistic fiction at the time. Phelps talks about what makes Marshall's books good, pointing out how he could make complex characters that showed real human feelings. William contrasts Marshall's way of telling stories with other popular styles of the time, which were more focused on social or political problems instead of the characters themselves. Phelps makes it clear that Marshall paid close attention to real human experiences, especially family and social relationships, to create a sense of realism that readers could connect with. This book is both a celebration of and a thoughtful look at Marshall's work, honoring his artistic achievements while also putting him in the context of the larger literary world of the early 1900s.