The record scratched on page 20. Describing a repellent character: "He made the acquaintance at first, in his own words, "of a lot of low Jews, Jewesses, and Jewkins," and ended by being received by "Jews high and low alike." It may be presumed that at this period he developed a peculiar faculty for making and hoarding money."

Based on a Google search, it gets much worse, later presenting the blood libel completely unchallenged by the book's most sympathetic character. I suspect that the presentation of such repellent ideas by otherwise magnificent artists at the turn of the 20th century was not without impact on later real-life events.

My feelings on this beautifully-written book will apparently be complicated.