Of Blackmore's other novels, The Maid of Sker, Alice Lorraine, and Springhaven are possibly the best. Blackmore's plots and characterization tend to resemble those in Lorna Doone, but his descriptions of nature and his accurate portraits of rural people make his later works worth reading. Finding these books may be difficult, but Springhaven has been reissued.

The Maid of Sker begins in a fishing village in Glamorganshire, Wales, but shifts to Devonshire, where an evil minister, Parson Chowne, dominates a small village. The plot of the novel, like that of Lorna Doone, involves an abduction. Alice Lorraine addresses another favorite theme, the misfortunes of an old family. Springhavenis considered by some critics to be one of the better historical novels of the late 1880s. Its young hero, driven from home by a tyrannical father, goes to the Battle of Waterloo.

The novel's strength lies...