SOME RECENT FICTION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1752, 17 May 1913, Page 9

SOME RECENT FICTION.

THE FOUNDLING. j ] Ono of tho strongest and best novels i I havo read this year is "The Foundling," by Paul Trent (Ward, Lock, and Co.; per I S. and W. Mackay). As a rule, political I novels aro rather wearisome productions, i although there are notablo exceptions, . such as Trollopo's "Phineas Finn," and . "Phineas Redux," and, quite recently, : Mr. Mason's "Tho Turnstile." Politics i anil Parliamentary life aro much to the ! front in Mr. Trent's story, but they do ] not provido the solo interest of the novel, 1 which deals with the political ambitions and experiences of ono John Strand, so ' called because his foster father, a bar- i rister named York Cobden, has led him to believo he was found as an infant • in that famous London street. The foster father had been jilted on his wedding day that was to be, by John's mother, , who had eloped with Cobden's _ bosom friend, Gerald Southwooil, then, like Cobden, a struggling barrister. Southwold \ deserts the woman, having, so Cobden thinks, never married her. Cobden gives , way to drink, but acts as a loving parent to the lad whom he educates well and who becomes a famous orator, a successful Labour member and tho leader of a small, but very active party. Meanwhile, Southwold has gone on from success to success, and is, when the story commences, no less a personage than Prime Minister. He is, I may here remark, quite ignorant of the fact that Strand is his son. Strand comes rapidly to the front and falls in love with, and is loved by, Lady Cora Soutliwold, tlio Pjime Minister's niece, being therefore, John's own cousin. The Prime Minister and the Earl of Aldoburgh, Cora's father, do not greatly object to the match, but insist, as 'a condition of consent to the engagement, that Strand shall relinquish his intention of leading an attack on tho Government. This, however, although Lady Cora adds her quota of influence, John refuses to do, and the woman he loves and who loves him, has the mortification of listening, from the Ladies' Gallery to a brilliant speech, which proves that the young member has preferred to follow what he considers stern and honest duty to the bonds of love. Cobden, who hates £outhvvold as the destroyer of his happiness, rejoices over tho fact that Strand is daily becoming more of a force against the Government. The Prime Minister vainly endeavours to win Strand over, and finally, when his offer of a seat in tho Cabinet has failed to seduce his courageous young opponent from his allegiance to what he deems his duty, is mean enough to engage in a vile plot, in which an Americal millionaire plays an important part, by which Strand will be proved guilty of gross corruption. Tho plot succeeds for n while, and Strand resigns, but only to go to his constituents, and eivo his version of the affair. The American millionaire is honest enough to come forward and disclose tho truth and Strand is returned by a large majority. Meanwhile ho has lost all his old lovo for the aristocratic Cora, and is engaged a niece of Cobden's. The story closes with Cobden's death and the disclosure of tho fact that Southwold had married Strand's mother, and that consequently tho now popular political hero is legitimate. Tho scene between father and son is most dramatic and yet has no taint of mere stagings. Tho "foundling" marries Cobden's niece and becomes heir to the Aldeburgh earldom, Lady Cora and the millionaire's daughter—a lively and unconventional girl—pairing off with two most eligible swains. Such is the roughest possible outline of a story which not only gives an excellent idea of the inner workings of the British political machine, but possesses a romantic interest which is cf-N fectively developed. "The Foundling" is a novel which I can unreservedly recommend. LE P'TIT CHOU. Le P'tit Chou, "tho little cabbage"— | "cabbage" in French is a term of endearment frequently applied to the "Kiddies" —is the nickname of a delightful little pickle—real name, Mademoisello Angeliquo Marie-Hortcnse Lefebre—who is the heroine of Mrs. Constance Elizabeth Maud's latest study of French life, "An-ge.iique-Lo P'tit" (Duckworth and Co.; per George Robertson and Co.). No English novelist of to-day can equal Mrs. Maud as a graphic and humorous delineator of French domestic life, and in her latest book there is all the same lightness and yet sureuess of tojich that characterised the same author's "An English Girl in Paris," "My French Friends," and other highly entertaining works of the same nature. "Lo p'tit Chou" is a real enfant terrible, and at times her delicious nnivete finds expression in a manner not a little embarrassing lo tho company m which sho finds herself. Wo have the pickle as an infant, nnd a child taking part in various family reunions and ceremonies, and whenever sho is on tlio stage laughter is irresistible. Tho "little cabbage" reminds me somewhat of Gyp's famous "P'tit Bob," when that interesting, if audacious, youth whs still a child, but Mrs. Maud's fun is more wholesome as a rule, although she, too, has her slightly "risky*' passages, than that of the famous Countesse de Martel, and the "little cabbage" is vastly moro amusing Gvp's precious children are wont to be. Incidentally her record of the "little cabbage's" funny pranks and coniical sayings gives an English reader a'very good idea of French family ways, dinners, weddings, and other functions. But primarily the author's object has been to amuse and her success is undeniable. A NEW "AMERICAN." The authorship of "A. Woman Alone," an autobiography (Appleton's; per George Robertson and Co.), is not stated on the titlo page, but a brief prefatory noto vouches for the fact that tho book is ■ not a novel but a record of the actual experiences of .the woman who is the narrator. It is a somewhat drab description of a woman's loneliness in the great | city of New York, but it is never dull. On the contrary, this narrative of Dorothy Baldwin's life from the time when, refusing to go into her grandfather's factory in a new England manufacturing town, she enters upon a college course, to tho day, many years after, when, an almost middle-aged woman, she finds a home, comradeship, and happy maternity through her marriage with a sober-sided man, older than herself, is over instinct with the impress of truth. One feels it is a real human document. A seriousminded girl, Dorothy becomes . a seriouSminded woman. Her work, at first as a schoolmistress, later as the secretary to a philanthropic association, dees not foster frivolity. But the time comes when she longs for love, longs to have her full share of the completed woman's life. She makes an experiment which ends disastrously, but in tho long run comes consolation. The pictures of the lonely existence of a certain class of woman workers in New York, a life full of temptations and dangers, are realistic enough, but there is no straining after tho sensational—the note of tho whole record is its inherent truth. There is a strong psychological interest in this study of a woman's life. As I have said, it may be drab and rather dreary in parts, but it is a "story which grips and holds the attention of a thoughtful render.

"TAINTED Lives." A novel with a purpose is "Tainted Lives/' by Pierre Costello ((j. Bell and Sons, per Whitcombo and Tombs). • In this case the pin •pose is to impress upon the public mind the awful (results which may nriso from the marrioyo of a man and woman, one of whom is afflicted by a taint of insanity. The story is, indeed, n great sermon on Eugenics, and perhaps it is because that the author so seldom iorgols his text that it is apt, as a novel, in l:e a trifle unsatisfactory. That 11 r. Oostello'.i work possesses both originality and literary force there is ample proof in this long and highly sensational story, but he has attempted to cover too much ground, nod long" before the conclusion is reached not n few readers will, I fear, Jiavo grown, weary of the vagaries of the mentallytainted Mrs. Dolphin, (lie mistaken optimism of her husband, and tlie wearisomely repeated warnings of Sir William Fro.it, tlio great physician, who is hi.s friend. The exposure of certain modern "miracles' is not ill done, but a flavour of sensationalism pervades tlio book, and in the final scene, what, is intended for tragedy, is perilously akin to ner? melodrama. Still, it is a story which "gives to tliinl;, ' as the IWli say.