SOME RECENT FICTION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1836, 23 August 1913, Page 9

SOME RECENT FICTION.

"APRIL PANHASARD." Miss Hiue's new story, "April Panliasard" (John Liuie, per V\ hitcombo and Tombs), deserves iront-rank place amongst recent English fiction. Tlio charm of the story lies largely in its style, which is dear and unalfected. The heroine, a lady of title, who has divorced her husband, a dipsomaniac, for orueity and infidelity, is awaiting tho issue of tlio decree liisi. Retiring in disgust from society, which has misunderstood and, as she thinks, misjudged her, 6he seeks refuge, under an assumed name, in a charming little village;, Coddell-in-the-Vale. Petronilla Essington now becomes April Panhasard, the new name being suggested by tho titles of tlwee books lying on a railway station bookstall—to wit, "Young April," "Peter Pan," and "The Hazard of the Die." In. her rustic retreat slie leads for a time a peaceful existence, despite tho prying of a meddlesome lady, the vicar's wife, the self-constituted guardian of tho village respectability and expounder of moral influence to the neighbourhood. The fair refugee soon mokes the acquaintance of a pair of completely charming Americans—brother and sister—kindly, good natured, and wholesome-minded folks, with whom the supposed "widow" becomes a close friend. Other. acquaintances are a olevor, but morally weak, young man from London, Boris Majendie, an old friend of the heroine's family, a Mr. and Mrs. Newcomen, and a small boy, a delightful youngster, mick-namcd "Bosun.." The American falls in love with April, and becomes very jealous of youn'<* Majendie, this without real cause, for tho lady has' nothing more than a kindly, semi-maternal affection for the young fellow. After a while poor April' finds herself in sad trouble, for her dipsomaniac husband escapes from tho "homes" w*hero lie is confined, and forces his wife to hide him in her house. The poor wretch, nursed back~to comparative health by the woman ho has ko evily treated, steals same brandy, andi js at once a raving maniac, sane enough, howover, to threaten his wife with tlie intervention of tho King's Proctor on a charge of resumed cohabitation, and lo menace her with what to tlie poor woman, is even worse. The end for the husband is tragic, for a landslide destroys the cottage, and tie man is killed. The scandal of the disclosures in tho press drives poor April to the Continent, where, a victim to nervous breakdown, she is gallantly rescued from a very awkward situation by her American lovier, who insists upon an immediate marriage. There is an incidental or secondary story in which Mrs. Newcomen and the poor little lad "Bosun" are and in which reappears a character familiar to those who read Miss Hinci's previous story, "Half in Ernest," but into this I cannot go. April Panh'asard is a true woman., a really fine, almost noble character, and t.he reader traces the story of her fortunes and misfortunes with an oil willing fascination. The two Americans are well-drawn characters, and some effective if quiet humour is provided by the vicar's wife and the country servants. This is a TeaJly good novel, and one which should not be mia-ed. , WINSTON CHURCHILL'S NEW STORY. "The era of forced acceptance of philosophical doctrines and dogmas is past, and that of freedom, of spiritual rebirth, of vicarious' -suffering, of willing sacrifice, and service for a-Cause is upon us. That Clause is Demooracy." W'lien tho Rev. ilr. Hodder, the clurgyman 'hero of Winston Churchill's latest novel, "Tho Inside of the Cup" (Macmillan and Co.), begins to talk in tlio abovo strain to his wealthy and fashionable congregation, there is.a very general murmur of dissatisfaction, the most prominent malcontent being a millionaire elder of the church, Elelon Parr, a financial magnate, whoso control of the Consolidated Tractions Trust had been marked by the customary contempt for public opinion and public welfare, and that veiled defiance of the law lor which the American trust organisers ha-vo long been 1 notorious. And yet Eldon Paw, wlio, by the way, 'has been chiefly responsible for the young minister coming to St. John's, is not an irreligious man, not a hypoorite. Neither are his fellow elder 3 hypocrites or ill-meaning men. The difference between their religion and that of the offending minister lies in tho fact that they hoodwink themselves into tho belief that they can serve both God and Mammon, whereas the minister knows, and is lionest enough to publicly declare, that such a combination is impossible, and that sooner or later the all-important choice of mastor must be made. In the vicinity of the church Is a poor quarter, a quarter reeking with poverty and drunkenness, vice and misery. When his fashionable congregation, is away at tho seaside, duiriug the hot summer months, ,it is "here that their minister finds his real mission—social work. In this he wins the sympathy and help of Alison Parr, the rich man's daughter, and it is in the slums of Taylor Street that the minister/ discovers a fallen woman, Kate Marcy, Avlio owes hc-r ruin to the millionaire, having prevented Iris son marrying her. Soon open strife breaks out between the elders, who are not sure as to their minister's orthodoxy, but are only too sure that he is a totally unsuitable incumbent for this highly respectable and wealthy of St. John's, and their courageous spiritual adviser. Asked to resign, the minister refuses to do so. The result is the withdrawal of the •well-to-do section of the congregation, and the commencement of a new era at St. John's, an era in-which a much less highly-paid minister, to bo helped by an equally courageous and wealth-despising wife, will fight tlie good fight of truth and honesty, alike in religion as in social reform work. It must not bo inferred that Mr. Churchill's novel is confined to the general lines of the plot," or story above laid down. On the contrary, it is rich iu the discussion of -eligiou-?, ethical, and social problems of the day. It is' not merely an American "Robert Elsmere," although, especially in the' earlier, chapters, theological questions are uppermost. It is hardly tho sort cf n.ivtl . n« uou'd have looked for from the author of "Richard Carvel," of "Conistou," and "The Crisis," and, so far as the prominence, given in its pages to theological and religious problems is concerned, I trust that it eloes not mark a permanent newdeparture by its author. But it is a

fine storv, with a deeply interesting human interest -underlying its discussion of very serious matters, and, needless to say, in mere literary stylo it is immeasurably superior, as were its predecessors from the same pe.i, to the ordinaly ruck of American fiction. / BOOTHiTARKINGTON'S LATEST. If only to laugh over the impudence ami ingenious mischief of Hedrick Jladison, one of tho most aivi'ul of those "awful boys" with whom sisters are so often blessed —or cursed, as the sisters may think—you should read "The Flirt" (JDoubleilay, Page, and Co.; per George liobertson and Co.), by Mr. Booth Tarkington, whose excellent novels, "Tho Gentleman from Indiana," anil "Monsieur Beaiicaire," will be remembered by many of my readers. Mr. Tarkington's flirtatious heroine Miss Cora Madison, a pretty girl, is, to tell the truth, a selfish', intriguing minx, who deserves to be taken in by the handsome mid unprincipled adventurer whom she imagines to be a wealthy man, and for whom sho throws over her other admirers. Although in the end she is lucky enough to escape from tho toils and to find out that tho smooth-spoken, debonair Valintino Corliss is a discredited roue and little better than a common "confidence man," she hardly deserves tho comfortable retreat sho gains as' tho wife of the pompous and rather stupid, but satisfactorily wiiil-to-do flame, to whom sho had previously behaved so badly. There is a second, an elder sister, Laura, whose love story, at first pathetic, is crowned in the end by well-deserved happiness. But to me tho best character in tho story is that precocious and mischievously ingenious youth Hedrick. Whenever lie is on the scene ho provides a rich store of excel-

lent fun, and I should like to renew his acquaintance in some future novel by tho tame author. ELLEN GLASGOW'S LATEST. Ellen Glasgow is an American, novelist who has many admirers in New Zealand. Her latest story, "Virginia" (Doubileday, Page, and Co., per George Robertson), may not make so wide an appeal as did "Tlie Battleground" and "The Romance of a Plain Man," but it is a well-written novel, in which there is much clover characterisation. For tho most part, the scene is laid in a sleepy old town in the Southern States, where people still keep up _ their old-lashioned customs. Virginia Pendleton, the heroine, is a gentlemannered simple-hearted girl, who makes a hero of and falls in love with a young man—Oliver Treadwell—who has been to Paris and London, and whoso ambition is to be a succosful author and playwright, an ambition most sternly discountenanced by his severely practical uncle, a tobacco manufacturer. Tlio young people marry, and tho story then becomes the record of a man's rapidly disappearing love, anil of a woman's simple devotion, and, alas, disillusion. For Oliver, chafing against tho dreariness of existence in the sleepy little town, becomes /Tiiore and more discontented and selfish. Finally, lie goes to Niew lork where, after a period of failure, lie blossoms forth as a successful dramatist. The artistic temperament with which poor \ lrginia has never been in sympathy now finds understanding from a beautiful actwtss, and the poor wife, her beauty faded, her lovo aiid loyalty and long years of cheerful self-sacrifice disregarded, finds herself thrown aside. The husband, it is true, ma.kes some pretence at an effort to resist the fascination of tho great city and the other woman, but in the end has to admit that his better nature is too weak to withstand the temptation. And the story ends with poor Virginia's return to her deserted home, her only consolation l>eing that her son, a really fine young follow, who is studying in Europe, is on his way home to comfort and console his mother. Virginia is a sweet-natured and truly good woman, for whom all waders of tine beautifully-written, if pathetic, story could have wished a happier close to her married life. Oliver Treadwell is perhaps us much the victim of temperament

as a deliberate sinner, and heredity, too, counts for something in his selfishness. In her pictures of the people of Diinviddie, the littlo Southern town which i= the main background to the story, there is quite a touch of Mrs. Gaskell. Priscilla Battle, the old sclioolmanii, Miss Willy Whitlow, the local arbiter of millinery fashions, and ether characters would have been quite at home in "Cranford." THE GAMBLERS. Founded upon the successful play of the same title, "The Gambler," by Charles Klein and Robert Hornblow (G. W. Dillingham and Co.; per George Robertson and Co.), is in exciting story of New York life, in which two men, Wilbur Emerson, a young banker, and Jim Darwin, a clever lawyer, who becomes State Attorney, aro rival lovers of (lie bigh-s])intwl ICatherine Foster. Darwin wins tho prize, but his jealous, morose disposition, gradually estranges his wife's ail'ection. The young banker goes in heavily for speculation, is "caught short,". and is mad enough to make improper use of tho bank's securities in order to tide over the evil day. Darwin insists upon a prosecution, his wife pleads for mercy for her old lover. After a scene tenss with drama, Darwin accuses, quite unjustly, his wife of dishonouring his name, and the woman then- openly avows her love for her husband is dead, and promises Emerson, who, though others are equally culpable, takes all the blame on himself, to marry him when he emerges

from his few months' imprisonment, a convenient divorce law offering every facility for the proposed arrangement. Neither Darwin nor Emerson are very estimable -characters, but the strength of the story lies in the lurid light it. throws upon, tho "frenzied finance' of Wall Street. THE FIGHTING BLADE. "The-Fighting Blade," by Beulah Mario Dix (Hodder and Stoughton; per S. and W. Mackay) is a highly romantic story in the Stanley Weyman vein. Tho period is that of the Civil War, the hero a young German, a soldier of fortune, who combines a most misleading juvenile appearance with exceptional skill with tho rapier, plus a cunning which is positively Machiavellian. The heroine, Thonisino Musgrove, is a slender, chestnut-haired, brown-eyed maiden, whose parents l'.uvo betrothed her to the young Viscount Carisford. How Thomsine makes the acquaintance of the handsome German stripling; how, through befriending him, she loses her good name, most unjustly, I hasten to add—how her relatives vilely maltreat her; how the young Viscount, her betrothed, will have none of her; ami-how his rascally old father, the Earl of Stavers'liam,. covets and insists upon n.anying the girl; and of what led to the oldrwin's disappointment and the young lady's

escapo to tho arms of tho gallant and faithful young Teuton, I must net tell. Von Keystenbrooek, despite his uncouth name, is an ideal lover, and not even a Stanley Weyman hero could saipass his sword play and his capacity for escaping out of a tight coiner. There is the true spirit of romance in Miss Dix's novel, which I can strongly recommend to 'these who like their fiction to possess a semihistorical flavour. SHORTER NOTICES. The heroine of Margaret '.Cuttle's story, "Her Worldly Goods" (Bobb, Merrill Co.; per George Robertson), has the misfortuno to possess a husband who has a disagreeable habit of gnawing his knuckles until the blood comes, of torturing dumb animals, and of such disconcerting tricks as setting his wife's dross on fire. To put it plainly, Colin Carson, many times a millionaire, is a dangerous lunatic. Confined in an asylum, he manages to escape, and for a time, aided by a rascally lawyer who wants to get tlie management of the madman's fortune, makes his wife's life a perfect hell upon earth. A plucky clergyman and other friends come, however, to the rescue, the blackmailing lawyer is outwitted, tho lunatic husband meets with a horrible death, the muchpersecuted woman finally saving the bulk of her fortune and being happily married tu tho clergyman lover, a very fine fellow, who well deserves his good luck.

Tho late Mr. Bobcrt Barr was a skilled compounder of fiction which did not demand much mental effort from the reader, but wag nevertheless very entertaining. At his best, as in "Cardillae, the SwordMaker," lie could,write a really fine novel. But he wrote too much, and tho finality naturally suffered. His last novel, "A Woman in a Thousand" (Hoddor and Stoughton, per S. and W. Jlacknv), deals with some very aristocratic people, two young peers, olio an easy-going, goodnatured idler, the other a keen but somewhat priggish politician, playing prominent parts in tho little comedy drama in which Margaret Elmer, "typiste" _ and secretary to tho Marchioness of Merivale, is the heroine. Tho bulk>;, domineering Marchioness is a very amusing character, and the story is readable enough, if not in ii,ny way a notable production.

I generally enjoy a story l>v Sirs. De la Pasture (Lady Clifford), and have specially pleasant memories of "Voter's Mother,' ''Deborah of Toil's," and "The Lonely Lady of Grosvenor Square." 1 must confess, however, that I have found Lady Clifford's latest story, "Michael Forrys" (George/ llell and Sons; per Whitconibe and Tombs), somewhat disappointing. There is far too much religious doctrine and theological controversy in the story, which deals with the love of a Catholic young lady for an agnostic, whose "conversion" is brought, abouj; by what lie believes to bo a miracle, but which is, ill reality, quite an accidental though certainly Very curious event. Tlio authors litorary stvle is as charming a.s ever, but the story 'is not to bo accounted 0110 ot her successes.

A very pretty and enjoyable story is "Tho Open Window," by JO. Temple Thurston (George Bell and Sons; per Whitcombe and Tombs). I'roni the full-blooded "Antagonists" to the idyllic "Open Window" is indeed a change. Tho novelist must be complimented upon such distinct proof of versatility. "The Open inflow" describes the experiences of a dear old clergyman, who, from a busy, dingy East End of London parish, suddenly finds himself transported into a most delightful rustic environment. There is a good deal in the story about birds and flowers and tho simple pleasures of village life, and a very pretty loyo story is clovorlv inter-

woven in tho narrative. An agreeablywritten, restful, enjoyable book for those who oamo to its perusal in. tlio right spirit. The illustrations, of which thero iu'o a great number, somo full page, others pleasantly diversifying tlio text, are simply charming. They aro by that gracefully inventive artist, Mr. Charles Robineon, who illustrated Stevenson's "Child's Garden of Verses."

Three recent additions to .Stanley Paul and Co.'s Colonial Library are "Called to Judgment," by Coralie-Stanton and Jleath Ilosken; "Tlio Price of Friendship," by ]}. Everett Green; and "Defiant Diana, by tho sanio writer. "Called tx> Judgment" is an ultra sensational story, the ccntral figure, worthy of the first villain in tho most lurid of Surrey-side melodramas, being a cunning swij.dltr, who serves a senle-ieo of ten years' imprisonment, but upon his release succeeds so effectively in burying his past that he is known as a man. of wealth, a. member of Parliament, and an advocate of prison reform. He commits suicide. "Tho l'rico of Friendship" is a novel of groat length, and is printed iu sucih small type as to mako its perusal rather tiring. Tire plot is an ingenious variant of the old motif of a man impersonating his friend. A most exciting if sensational story. In "Defiant Diana," Mrs. Green introduces us to a voung lady of good family, who, with heir brothers, is compelled tp leave "The to the tenant of which she takes a violent dislike. Tho new squire, .however, eventually wears down Diana's defiance, and tho final sentence, "Then their lips met," olearly indicates coming weding Wis. A lively and decidedly readable novel.

Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton confcinuo to _ add new volumes to their popular Shilling- Library, in which already so many excellent novels have appeared, tome recent additions, copies of'which aro to. hand from tili/3 publishers, are Italph Connor's stirring 6tory of Canadian life, "The Doctor of Crow's Nest," which had tiuch a big run when it was first published in lilOU; Norman Duncan's "Dr. Luke," which .gives so realistic a description of the strenuous life of the Labrador lisher folk and trappers; Harold Bell Wright's delightfully wholesome and charming story, "Tho Shepherd of the Hills"; and a very pleasant story, in much lighter vein than tho .foraging, namely, "Rosalind at Redgato," by the successful American novelist, Meredith Nicholson, whose "Houso of a Thousand Candles," will bo remembered by many of my readers. Well printed and neatly bound, these volumes of Hodder anil Stoughton's Shilling Library ore all comparatively now books, and should in their cheaper i'orm cuter upon a new lease oV popularity.