''Dariel: a romance of Surrey'' is a novel by R. D. Blackmore published in 1897. It is an adventure story set initially in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

before the action moves to the

Caucasian mountains The Caucasus Mountains * * Azerbaijani: , * * * * * * * * * * * is a mountain range at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, they are surrounded by the Caucasus region ...

. The story is narrated by George Cranleigh, a farmer who falls in love with Dariel, the daughter of a Caucasian prince. ''Dariel'' was the last of Blackmore's novels, published just over two years before his death.The London Quarterly Review, (1926), page 53

Plot

The story is narrated by George Cranleigh,''The Publisher'', (1897), Volume 14, Issue 67, page 689 a younger son of Lord Harold Cranleigh, a destitute landowner in Surrey,''The Review of Reviews'', Volume 17, page 88 who has been ruined, according to Blackmore, by the "

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...

of Free-trade".Recent Novels
''The Spectator'', page 22, 25 December 1897 In the opening chapter George, riding home from market, surprises a maiden of surpassing beauty upon her knees in a ruined chapel.''The Athenaeum'', (1897), Vol. 2., page 782 She proves to be Dariel, the daughter of Sur Imar, a prince of the Lesghians, a wild tribe of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. A blood feud has arisen between Imar and his sister, and so he has, with his daughter, his foster-brother Stepan, and a body of retainers, come to England and settled peaceably in a deserted house in Surrey. Imar resolves to returns to his native land to educate his tribesmen in the lessons of civilisation. George, who has fallen in love with Dariel, follows her to the East.Dariel (1896)
www.victorianweb.org, retrieved 17 September 2013 But Imar's twin-sister Marva, Queen of the

Ossets The Ossetians ( or ; ),Merriam-Webster (2021), s.v"Ossete" also known as Ossetes ( ), Ossets ( ), and Alans ( ), are an Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the northern and southern sides of the Caucasus ...

, who is appropriately called by the natives "the Bride of the Devil", plans to kill Prince Imar and wed his daughter Dariel to her son. After weeks of travelling and days full of desperate adventure, George, with the help of miners and Lesghians, rescues Dariel and her father and kills the wicked Princess and her fiendish son.

Publication

''Dariel'' was first serialised in ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by publisher William Blackwood and originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine'', but quickly relaunched as ''Blackwood's Edinb ...

'' from October 1896 to October 1897, and then published in one volume in 1897."Richard Doddridge Blackmore" entry in ''The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature: 1800-1900'', (1999), Cambridge University Press. It was the only one of his novels which was first published as one volume. It was published once more in 1900. The novel included 14 illustrations by Miss

Chris Hammond Christopher Andrew Hammond (born January 21, 1966) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Hammond was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the sixth round of the amateur draft. Hammond had not sustained considerable ...

Reception

''Dariel'' received mixed reviews. ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' complained that "Mr. Blackmore's method is too leisurely, and his canvas is crowded with characters who, though very engaging in themselves, retard the march of the story", and similarly '' The Athenaeum'' said that "the length is quite disproportionate either to the number of characters introduced or the complication of the history". ''The Publisher'', on the other hand, loved the novel, stating that "the book is unquestionably the most important contribution made to fiction this year ... the love element is singularly fresh and delightful, ... the characters are alive in every fibre, and there are scores of those wonderful descriptions of nature in which Mr. Blackmore has no existing peer save Mr. Hardy or Mr. Meredith".

References

External links

{{R. D. Blackmore 1897 British novels Novels by R. D. Blackmore Novels set in Surrey