The Van Roon

Description: “A remarkable novel, human to its very core, which tells of how a painting by an old master, newly discovered, became a cause of love and hate among a curious and delightful group of characters.”

Review: The Bookman, October 1922: Mr. Snaith in playful and amusing mood. To the old curiosity shop kept by the ancient miser, Gedge, comes practical country June, his niece. Gedge and his boy William run the shop; William is a wonderful assistant, with a flair for picking up valuable things for nothing. Shortly after June arrives, William, who is a divinely gentle and credulous being, in spite of his cleverness about things artistic, brings in a small picture which he has picked up for five shillings at Crowdham market. Interest centre round this apparently worthless thing; as it is clean, it reveals an increasing beauty, and finally is proved to be a genuine Van Roon, worth thousands of pounds. Then of course everybody wants to possess it. Gedge himself makes various cunning attempts, and William’s faith and love for his old master take a deal of shaking. June falls in love with William, and also, at one time, gets hold of the picture. Very delicately does Mr. Snaith paint the love between the couple, the dreamy, beauty-loving boy, the strenuous, matter-of-fact girl. A pretty piece of work, conceived in no spirit of sombreness.

John Collis Snaith (1876-1936) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire. He was born in Nottingham, died in Hampstead. He was also a novelist, writing as J.C. Snaith, and played in the Authors Cricket Club alongside fellow authors A.A. Milne and P.G. Wodehouse among others. His novel “The Van Roon” was published in the United States in 1922.