Hubert Crackanthorpe's name seldom fails to appear in accounts of the 1890s, traditionally those that veer toward the Yellow Book or short fiction, most particularly the short story in England as derived from French realism. He is repeatedly cited, for better or worse, as a spearheader of the "modern" and as one who pioneered in realistic fiction that differed from the naturalism of George Moore and others. Crackanthorpe's early, mysterious death has promoted the posthumous image of a youthful artist of great promise taken untimely from the cultural scene. Thus he has been grouped with others from the 1890s who died young and left to posterity images of unfulfilled potential, such as Francis Adams, Aubrey Beardsley, Ernest Dowson, Lionel Johnson, and H. D. Lowry.

Three slender volumes of short fiction, one uncollected story, a handful of critical essays, and a negligible collaborative play constitute Crackanthorpe's literary legacy. Despite...