SOME RECENT FICTION

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2618, 13 November 1915, Page 12

SOME RECENT FICTION

REX BEACH'S LATEST. Mr. Rex Beach hag never been more generous in Mis supply of sensational incident tlian : in his latest . story, ' "Jleart of the Sunset" (Hodder and StoughtonYper S. and W. Maokay). He has not yet found his way back to Alaska, up to now by far his most success! ul background; but he has found an almost equally promising field in the frontier regions of Texas and Mexico, ground once so profitably worked by that enchanter, of.our youth, the late Captain Mayne Reid. His story is intensely Jatter-day in subject, for the period is that immediately preceding th 6 landing of American troops at Vera Cruz, when the indignities and injustices inflicted, upon Amorioan residents in Moxico had forced even. the present American Government to show some regard for national honour, and, the individual rights of its citizens.' Mr. Beach is a born story-teller, and in bis very first chapter creates an atmosphere of romantic drama, which is cleverly sustained until the end. His heroino is an American lady, a wealthy ranch owner in her own right, and tho <vife of a young American, who inherits a fine property, but is a worthloss tippler and irreclaimable sensualist. His young wife, .Alairo Austin, '.'the redhaired woman with tho still white face," is known to the countryside as "The Lone Star." She is a lady of great intellectual talents, as well as of everyday wordly acumen. Into a life which is being slowly wrecked by her drunken roue of a husband comes a fine, tall Texan Ranger, a. man of good education, who is a dead shot, as brave as a lion, but cursed with a hot temper, which is constantly getting him into trouble. With this man, David Law, the fair Alairo becomes involved in a tangled problem, in which Mexican generals; frontier cattle thieves, American gun-runners, and a host of other undesirables play more or less important parts. , The dramatic interest of the story is exceptionally strong, the hot, passionate love for Alairo of'the Mexican General Luix Longorio, as picturesque and unscrupulous a villain as Mr. Beach has ever created, being a specially effective feature. Some of tho, minor characters, notably Mr. Blaze Jones, of Jonesville, a Texan of tho old school, are much more carefully drawn than is Usual in this class of fiction, and the story as a whole must be pronounced a decided success. Mr. Bead) does not worry us very much with international problems, but some of 'lis sidelights on the position of affairs in Mexico are extremely interesting.

A PRETTY CI FT BOOK,

In- "authorship, illustration, and production, this book-is entirely Australian," is an inscription on tho paper slip in which is enclosed a 'handsome qilarto volume'which comes .to mo from Messrs. George Robertson and Co., Melbourne. bearing the title "Here is Faery." Tho litorary contents include two plays, "The Pierrot of the Bush" and "Fairyland for All,'.' and five stories, in all of which there is an element of fairydom. Eacli separato contribution, play or story, is prefaced by some prettily-written verse, in which there is a genuine and delightfully lyrical touch. No doubt tho literary stylo of tho book, notably in tho stories, is soliieivhat above tho average juvenilo comprehension, but its graco and charm aro undeniable. The author preserves his or hor anonymity, but 1 should judge that these beautiful stories come from the same pen which gave its last year, about this same time, that; quaintly charming fancy, "The Spirit of the 13ush," As a gift book, for well-educat-ed children, "Here is Faery" deserves to bo remembered during'the now rapidlyapproaching holiday season. Tho illustrations, a specially attractive feature of the; hook, are from the brush and pencil of Mr. I'ercy Leasou, who is to be congratulated alike upon tho delicacy and imaginative power of his work, and tho eminently artistic way in which his paintings and drawings lmvo been reproduced. Lu addition'to several coloured-

platos, mouuted on separate sheets, the volume contains a number of decorative drawings-'which are exceedingly well done, especially those surrounding the poems and the coloured plates. "Hore is Faery" is a Tory attractive volume, and tho fact that it owes its produotion solely' to native talent is distinctly creditablo to all concerned in its issue.