SOME RECENT FICTION.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2480, 5 June 1915, Page 9

SOME RECENT FICTION.

MAURICE HEWLETT'S LATEST. Ever since Mr. Maurice Hewlett be- ■ gan to show signs of a Meredithian influence, the admirers of his earlier work, such stories as "The Forest Lovers" and 'Richard Yea and Nay," have been praying_ for his return to those scenes of mediaeval romance wliich he depicted witli so much vigour and brilliancy. Mr. Hewlett has now, in his latest story, "A Lover's Tale" (Ward, Lock, and Co.: per Whitcombe and Tombs), forgotten hi 6 Meredith for the time being, and has gone back far beyond even the times of "Richard Yea and Nay." For bis new story is founded upon an Icelandio Saga or legend. It is a change indeed from the intensely modern atmosphere of '.'The Stooping Lady" and "Rest Harrow" to find ourselves following the fortunes of Cormac, the young Viking pool, and the beauteous young maiden whom he lovos, the

goldon-looked Stangerd. CJormno not marry hor, for ho dallies and delays, nnd as a matter of fact the girl, whoso hair tho pootic vouth compared to "fresh cardod silk," whoso "eyes are bluoi- than tho sky when you stand in a narrow valloy and look up," marries twico, tho middlo-aged lighting man, Uorso, and tho oqually mature tinßniith _ Thorvald, and wodß not with Cormao 0 at all. What placo in tho love story of „ Oormac is playod by tho grim figure of J Thorvejig, tho witoli, wlho£» sons he had kilted—for tho poet-lover could fight as woll as make poetry and love — my readers must discover for themselves in the pages of Mr. Hewlett's well-told romance. ° "MRS. MARTIN'S MAN." Air. St. John Irvine, tho author of [J "Mrs. Martin's Man" (Bell and Sons; e per Whitcombo and Tombs), is a clever _ young Irish writer, whoso one act plays have aohioved a certain As _ a novelist, Mr. Irvine exhibits distinct |j promise, if we may judge his future by B "Mrs. Martin's Man. It is not a e particularly cheerful story, for it deals |j with the troubles which befall a dccent, u hard-working woman, who has battled u bard against adverso fortune, through the return from America of a wastrel Husband. Mr. Irvine, I presume, knows his Ulster at first hand, and his pich tures of working-class life in that ccntro ■- of fieroely-contendinf; elements —elej ments clearly indicated in the story— . bear an air of convincing realism. There t is a fino dramatic interest in the story ,f arising out of the past relations of . the scapograco Martin and his wife's sister, and in the dialogue throughout 1 there runs a tine vivaoity_ and directs . iiess. A good Irish realistio novel is t a welcome novelty after the sloppy sen- ) timent and transparent artificiality of which certain popular novelists who 0 havo taken Ireland for tho bankbono of i, their stories have been so prodigal. BIC TREMAINE. ■, Miss Marie Van Voorst, the author 1 of "Big Tremaine" (Mills and Boon, . per George Robertson and Co.) gives » us a very good story on the old, old 3 theme of tho guilt and what should r havo been the disgrace of a young man being devotedly and patiently borne by his elder brother. John Tremaine goes oif to South Africa, makes a fortune, and returns to his native Virginia to find his mother, the family lawyer, and the banker whom his brother (now dead) had robbed some twenty years ago, all _ believing in his guilt and regretting his . return. "Big Tremaine" lives down and r lights down the stigma which so unj justly rests on his honour. He brings ■ wealth to the impoverished Tremaine 0 estate, wins the love of the bankers' h daughter, and, in the long run, his j brother's widow, the love of his youth, a after'vainly endeavouring to relight the > dead fires of his youthful affection for e hor. reveals tho secret of the younger r brother's guilt. The plot may be r based on a well-worn theme, but the „ story is well told, and the local colour j of the story,is delightfully fresh and j. picturesque 1 THE VOICE OF THE TURTLE. In "The Voice of the Turtle" (Mcthi, von and Co.) Mr. Frederick Watson (a >- son of the late "lan Maclaren") proe vides a sunny and amusing novel which

('tis possessed of docided novolty in that , tho two young poople who are most i prominent in tho plot moot for the first i timo in tbo waiting-room of a fashion- , able doctor, both being doomed to uni dergo operations for the popular j "pendy." Tony Danglehurst is such a , oheor.v and likeable youngster that it is i rathor disappointing to find him thrown i over, in the last chapter or two, for a • strongcr-mimled man. Tho various ■ mombers of tho Floss family, especially i Papa Floss, a wealthy business-im--1 mersed man. who eventually buys an - estate in tho country, and wins popu- . lar favour by tho liberality alike of his i expenditure and his opinions on various local matters, aro drawn with a firm hand, and Meg Floss is a very charming heroine. Sir. Watson plainly : inherits his father's ability for clover . character drawing, and his curiously entitled story makes very pleasant readj ing. s t THE YOUNC MAN ABSALOM. ' Paul Crayford, the hero of Mr. E. 0. Vivian's story, "Tho Young Man Absalom" (G. 801 l and Sons, per Whit' j oombe and Tombs) is the son of a j wealthy ironmaster who, giving the i young man a share in the management of his business, is soon sorely distressed to find that Paul is possessed by a , keener sympathy with the employees than is in accordance with "strict business" principles. Fathor and son " quarrel, the son eventually heading a \ strike of Ihe workers, and, besides makc ing «n finemy of his parent, being . "turned down" by his finaucee. The [ end is tragedy. A well-told story, in which a penetrating light is thrown j upon some of the causes of industrial strife iu the Old Country. f . ■' ) A LE QUEUX SHOCKER. f The workings of a gang of clever and desperate criminals, led by a man of superlative ingenuity, resource, and daring, provide tho pilot of Mr. Lb r Queux's latest hair-raiser, "Sons of Satan" (G. Bell and Sons, per Whit--1 combe and Tombs). Mr. Lo Queux is [ a past master in fiction of this kind, [ and he must bo credited with having beaten even his own record in the ingenuity with which he makes a jolly young peer solve the mystery of the cruel attacks which are made upon the honour and happiness, and finally the 1 life of his sweetheart, a pretty, and, of ) coarse, most virtuous, young ornament 1 of the musical comedy stage.