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.
