A review by triscuit807
The Great Quest by Charles Boardman Hawes

3.0

What did I think? This one was both fascinating and peculiar. It's definitely a product of its times (early 1920s) in that the language and style is more elevated than what would be used today. It's also very clearly of that era in how it depicts non-white and non-English/American characters; it's undeniably racist and bigoted, but given that is the norm for the era which it depicts (the 1830s) it's not quite as offensive as it could be. This is the story of a young, orphaned, New Englander (age is uncertain - I had thought teens, but at one point Jo(siah) states he's in his 20s) who works in his uncle's store. A man (Cornelius Gleazen) from his uncle's past (he hung with a bad crowd as a youth) comes to town and convinces/blackmails him into committing to a trading quest to Africa. Uncle invests his savings and he, Josiah, and two employees accompany scoundrel on the journey. All sorts of misfortune occurs, including the revelation that yes, slaves, might be involved. This is one of the "forgotten" Newberys, but for reasons I don't understand it's more available than another of the same year (Cedric the Forester). I read this for my Newbery challenge and it also fulfills my 2017 Reading Challenge "read an adventure book" (Read the World in 52 weeks).