The Eagle's Shadow (1904) is the debut novel of James Branch
Cabell, a master of fantasy fiction and an underrated figure of
twentieth-century American literature. The novel is significant for
being among few of Cabell's works to take place both around the
time of its publication and to be set in the contemporary world.
Like many of his works, however, it paints an intricate portrait of
romance and power, immersing its reader into a fiction more real
than they'd care to admit. Most of the novel's action occurs at
Selwoode, a recently built mansion located in the English
countryside. Following the death of her uncle Frederick, Margaret
Hugonin finds herself his unlikely heiress, and is thrust into a
life she could not have prepared for even if she had managed to
imagine it in the first place. As she faces down suitor after
suitor while enduring a routine of lessons on philanthropy,
culture, and charity, she navigates the complexities of her love
for Billy Woods, her cousin through marriage and the nephew of
Selwoode's deceased scion, Frederick. Throughout the story, the
eagle-both Frederick's chosen heraldic animal and a symbol of
power-looms over their relationship. The ill-gotten nature of the
family fortune-acquired through the exploitation enabled by
imperialism and solidified in the shadows of Wall Street-threatens
to destroy not only their love, but their entire world. The Eagle's
Shadow, a novel at times tragic and comedic, is a brilliant and
bold social critique masquerading as romance, and a literary work
for all time. Cabell's work has long been described as escapist,
his novels and stories derided as fantastic and obsessive
recreations of a world lost long ago. To read The Eagle's Shadow,
however, is to understand that the issues therein-the struggle for
power, the unspoken distance between men and women-were vastly
important not only at the time of its publication, but in our own,
divisive world. With a beautifully designed cover and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of James Branch
Cabell's The Eagle's Shadow is a classic of comedy and romance
reimagined for modern readers.
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