A Romance of Billy-Goat Hill

The quaint types of fresh humor first seen in ‘Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch,’ which made it one of the best sellers ever published, appear again in this new novel, as the background of a delightful love story. An irresistible combination of Southern comedy and high romance.

“Mrs. Alice Hegan Rice’s new novel bids fair to approach the success of the earlier works that gave Mrs. Rice fame. In this connection it is interesting to note that those that had thought of Mrs. Rice only as humorist, an opinion based on her first successes, ‘Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch’ and ‘Lovey Mary,’ today see the fulfillment of the late Richard Watson Gilder’s prediction that she would succeed notably when drawing on ‘a broader canvas.’ She did not have far to go to find either the ‘broader canvas’ nor the characters with which to people it, for, like ‘Mrs. Wiggs,’ the new novel is in her own Kentucky, and, again, like the beloved philosopher of the cabbage patch, is filled with humor of the kind one expects from Mrs. Rice. The central figure, however, is a wildflower heroine who, through misunderstandings due to a series of dramatic incidents, is parted from the man of her choice and weds an elderly scholar. The lover returns to face charges that had been made against him, and there arise complications that confirm Mrs. Rice’s skill as a story teller. The restoration of a boy’s power of speech is one of the unusual means by which the tangled situation is made straight.” -The Overland Monthly

“A sweet little southern girl, unutterably lonely, marries a kindly middle-aged professor, only to find her heart still true to the lover of happier days.” -Publishers Weekly

“A combination of Cabbage Patch comedy and high romance.” -The Publishers Trade List Annual

“The love story has the fragrance of a wild rose, and every character in the book is worth knowing.” -Chicago Record-Herald

“Mrs. Rice here proves herself to be a humorous, brilliant observer and a dramatist, with a love for human nature that is almost a religion.” -Boston Transcript

“Seems to us far ahead of any previous work by Mrs. Rice.” -The Congregationalist

“A fine, strong story.” -The Baptist World

“Nothing better can be said of it than it is as good as ‘Mrs. Wiggs.’” -New Orleans Times-Democrat

“A great big novel, with all the inherent charm of ‘Mrs. Wiggs’ and “Lovey Mary.’” -Pictorial Review

“A most wonderful novel.” -The Mirror

“An author who makes her characters flesh and blood people.” -News and Courier, Charleston, S. C.

“Mrs. Rice has produced a story that easily surpasses her first – and her second and third.” -Minneapolis Journal

“She has amply justified the expectation of her friends and amazed thousands of others by this splendid story.” -Herald Republican, Salt Lake City, Utah

“Thank the literary gods for a cheerful story.” -New York Press

“Smiles and tears, humor and tragedy, a basic understanding of human nature and a love for its frailties.” -Chicago Post

“In this book Mrs. Rice has surpassed herself….One of the most charming romances of American life to be found anywhere.” -Chicago Record-Herald

“A tale of true love, true humor, and therefore true literature.” -Louisville Courier-Journalist

“Her earlier successes were but preliminary to her great triumph in this new novel.” -Salt Lake City Tribune