Customer Reviews

Senator North

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Using Washington society and the dealings of Congress around the time of the Spanish-American War as her backdrop, Gertrude Atherton has written a love story involving the young Betty Madison and the elderly (and married) Senator North. Mrs. North is an invalid and Betty and Senator North spend a good deal of time alone together and in the halls of Congress as their love blossoms. In the meantime, another senator, Robert Burleigh, also falls in love with her. Assuming things are hopeless between her and North, she accepts Burleigh's proposal of marriage. But, of course, does anyone doubt what happens next? Mrs. North dies, leaving the door open for North and Betty to love honorably and marry, which they do. Atherton is good enough a writer to keep the romance between North and Betty from becoming sordid (Betty's having a very sensible and trusting mother helps greatly). Some scenes are a bit hard to swallow, as, for instance, the life-like dream North has where he encounters Alexander Hamilton and they debate the fate of the republic. But Atherton also has some very clever things to say about the workings of Congress: how Senators are endlessly "tormented by lobbyists" and tempted by bribes is particularly apt. Her dialogue is her strong suit, and the novel as a whole is not bad at all.