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Charles Egbert Craddock

About This Author
Reviewed

Updated

Read Time

6 min read

Our age bandAdult
Reader rating
3.2 · 19 Amazon ratings, as of Nov 2026
reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
$9.99 on Amazon
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Our review

The Frontiersman

The Frontiersman Review: Ornate Tennessee Frontier Stories (Craddock)

by Charles Egbert Craddock

The Frontiersman is a 116-page budget reprint of Charles Egbert Craddock's Tennessee frontier fiction, with stockade attacks and pioneer romance. An editorial note praises its ornate style, but this edition has no independent reviews.

$9.99 on Amazon
Our age band: Adultviolent settler-Cherokee conflict · stockade attacks

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for

Readers curious about late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century regional American fiction who want a very cheap taste of a once-popular storyteller and are comfortable with ornate, period prose.

Worth it if

Worth reading if you enjoy elaborate, simile-heavy frontier atmosphere and can accept that this short edition's contents are unnamed and may be only part of the 1904 collection.

Skip if

Skip it if you want brisk, contemporary pacing, a reliably complete edition of the 1904 collection, or independent proof of quality, since no review of this edition tests whether the ornate style still holds up.

There is no critical verdict on this edition to lean on: the retrieved pages are reference and retail listings that describe the setting and themes of settlers, love, conflict and survival rather than judge the writing. The only craft commentary comes from a single book-blog note on beqra.com, which singles out Craddock's ornate similes and suspense paced through pauses.

Sources: beqra.com, gutenberg.org
3.2from 19 Amazon ratings, as of Nov 2026— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score; an early, small sample

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The Frontiersman is a 116-page budget reprint of Charles Egbert Craddock's early-Tennessee frontier fiction, built around stockade attacks, settler-Cherokee conflict and a pioneer romance. It suits readers curious about period regional fiction who want a very cheap sample, but no independent review of this edition exists, and its contents appear to be only part of the 1904 collection.
Is it worth reading?
It is worth a look as a low-cost sample of Craddock's ornate, simile-rich prose. The editorial praise on beqra.com addresses that craft, but nobody has tested whether the style still charms or tires a modern reader. Because the same text is free on Project Gutenberg, the paperback adds only the comfort of print.
Similar books
The closest match is Craddock's own The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountain, which shares her Tennessee setting and ornate manner. For a broader frontier canvas, Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove offers a modern, fuller take on pioneer hardship, while Ron Rash's Serena brings an Appalachian setting in contemporary literary prose. None of these is a direct stylistic twin of Craddock's period voice.
Who should read this?
It suits readers who want an inexpensive taste of Craddock and are comfortable with elaborate style. It points away from readers wanting the 1904 collection in full.
About Charles Egbert Craddock
Charles Egbert Craddock was the pen name of Mary Noailles Murfree (January 24, 1850 – July 31, 1922), an American author of novels and short stories born near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Considered Appalachia's first significant female writer, she was crippled in childhood by paralysis. Her first collection, In the Tennessee Mountains (1884), went into 18 printings, and her true identity was not revealed at first.
Are there content concerns?
The setting involves stockade attacks and settler-Cherokee conflict. Readers should expect period attitudes toward Native peoples, which may not suit modern sensibilities. No review of this edition itemises specific passages, so the details beyond this are unknown.
Is this edition complete?
Probably not. The 1904 volume runs to 364 pages, while this 2017 Createspace paperback has 116, so it may be a selection. The listing offers only generic series copy and names no stories, so the only way to confirm is the sample or the table of contents.
Summarize this book

Summarize this book

The frontier setting centres on a stockade in early Tennessee, where Peninnah Penelope Anne Mivane watches a Cherokee attack from safety and helps her young pioneer lover Ralph Emsden in a violent confrontation. Her deaf grandfather, Richard Mivane, appears as protector and patriarch. The listing names no stories, and the plot outline comes from a machine-generated summary that treats the book as a single novel, so treat the details as a sketch of the setting rather than a map of this edition.

Follow up

Which stories might be included?
Is it a novel or a story collection?

Synthesized from verified book data & published reviews · How we review

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Our Review

We review the evidence: published critics, reader verdicts and BookTube reviews, gathered and weighed with AI assistance and edited by LuvemBooks, rather than one reader's first-hand take.

Charles Egbert Craddock's The Frontiersman is a short, inexpensive reprint of early-Tennessee frontier fiction, and what it offers is old-fashioned atmosphere rather than a critically proven classic. Weigh it as a cheap way into a period storyteller, not as a book with a documented record of acclaim.

What is The Frontiersman, and what is in this edition?

This 2017 Createspace paperback runs 116 pages, and the listing's only description is generic series copy about gathering classic works at a reduced price. It names no stories, so the contents have to be pieced together from elsewhere.
The title matches Craddock's 1904 book The Frontiersmen, which some reviewers date to 1904 and which sources indicate the text opens with stories including The Linguister, A Victor at Chunge and The Captive of the Ada-Wehi. The 1904 volume runs to 364 pages, far longer than this 116-page edition, so this may be a selection rather than the full collection.
Craddock is the pen name of Mary Noailles Murfree, born in 1850, and the table of contents lists her earlier titles, including In the Tennessee Mountains.

What happens on the Tennessee frontier?

Some reviewers describe it as a historical novel of early settlers, stockades and Cherokee attacks. It names Peninnah Penelope Anne Mivane, who watches an attack from the safety of a stockade and aids her young pioneer lover Ralph Emsden in a violent confrontation.
The same summary adds her deaf grandfather, Richard Mivane, a protector and patriarch who struggles with his hearing. The threads are love under threat, conflict between settlers and Native peoples, and survival.
Because that summary is machine-generated and treats the book as a single novel, treat the plot details as an outline of the setting rather than a firm guide to this edition.

What does an editorial note say about Craddock's style?

A note on beqra.com focuses on craft rather than plot. It points to the author's ornate similes, with the opening of The Linguister likening the world to Chinese nested ivory balls, a deliberately elaborate figure set against a primitive stockade.
The same note describes shifts between interior thought and outward action, and suspense paced through repetition and deliberate pauses, as in The Captive of the Ada-Wehi. It frames these as the voice that structures how readers sense scale and danger.
That is a single, short analysis, so it points to the style rather than settling how well the stories hold up.

Is The Frontiersman worth reading?

Weighing what is available, the tension is between richly worked period prose and the plain fact that no independent review of this edition exists. The one editorial note praises Craddock's craft, but nobody here tests whether the ornate manner still charms or tires a modern reader.
That points the book toward readers curious about late-nineteenth-century regional American fiction, or anyone who wants a very cheap taste of a once-popular writer. It points away from readers wanting brisk, contemporary pacing or a reliably complete edition of the 1904 collection, given the page-count gap.
Readers who like the free text can compare it directly on Project Gutenberg before buying.

How does this edition read as a purchase?

The 116 pages and budget-reprint framing mean you are paying for convenience, since the public-domain material is available free in other formats online. A print copy suits someone who prefers paper and a low price.
The listing offers no editorial apparatus described anywhere, so expect the text rather than introductions or notes. Check what the sample shows before buying, because the stories included are not named.

Sources & Further Reading

The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.

  1. Cited in this review
  2. 1
    THE FRONTIERSMEN Read Online Free Book by Charles Egbert Craddock at ReadAnyBook.

    readanybook.com

  3. Further reading
  4. 2
    The Frontiersmen by Charles Egbert Craddock | Project Gutenberg

    gutenberg.org

  5. 3
    The frontiersmen : Craddock, Charles Egbert, 1850-1922 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

    archive.org

  6. 4
    The Frontiersmen (Edition1) By Charles Egbert Craddock

    worldofbooks.com

  7. 5
    The Frontiersmen - Charles Egbert Craddock - Google Books

    books.google.com

  8. 6
    The Frontiersmen by Charles Egbert Craddock | Waterstones

    waterstones.com

Age & Reading Level

Our age band

Adult

Our age band groups books for browsing; it isn't an age a review gave.

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Content to know about

violent settler-Cherokee conflict
stockade attacks
period attitudes toward Native peoples

Skip if you want brisk, contemporary pacing or a reliably complete edition of the 1904 collection.

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