SOME RECENT FICTION

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2848, 12 August 1916, Page 6

SOME RECENT FICTION

A New Beresford Novel. As all who have read that remarkable J trilogy in which one Jacob Stahl figured bo prominently, or that painful hut powerfuL novel, ''The House in Demetrius Uond," will agree, Mr. J. D. Beresford deserves high rank amongst the younger British novelists. His latest story, "Those Lynnekers" (Cassoll and Co., per S. and AV. Mackay), cannot fail to add to Mr. Beresford's rapidly growing reputation. It partakes of the nature of a family history, but it is Dickie Lynneker, by whom, oddly enough, the accepted Lynneker traditions are least respected, in whom we are most interested. The Lynnekers worship at the shrine of conventionality. That which is—or was—must bo right; now departures, new inove- j inents, aught that may disturb the ordinary peaceful stream of a well ordered, especially a Lynneker-ordored life, is 1 frankly impossible. But Diok.ie is a rebel right through. So v far from preferring and choosing the line of least resistance, Dickie develops an audacious contempt for tho easily achieved which sadly disconcerts his family. Ho is at first a bank clerk, then breaks tho bonds of monotonous but eminently respectable country town finance for tho wider and moro romance-laden sphere of high financD in London. Success, however, brings satioty, and all at onco lie to- ' linquislies v:hat are considered exceptionally brilliant prospects to devoto (ho remainder of his life to the study of astronomy. Like Jacob Stahl, with whom lie has not a littlo in common, Dickie is the keenest, most unsparing of self-crit-ics, and for self-criticism, as indeed for any kind of criticism, tho average Lynneker had a most sovero distaste. There 'is a protty lovo story in the book, but the interfering petticoat" does not put in an appearancc 'until the end of the story is near. Tho book is really a series of 'brilliant'charactor sketches.- Hero and; thora,' perhaps. as in"tho case of the' clerical clement, Mr. Beresford's irony is just a trifle too obvious, his satiro too severe. But to all who can appreciate a novel which is not only an interesting

story but is rood literature, "These Lynliekers" should give great delight. Barnavaux Once Again. Translations of 'Piorre Mille's clovcr stories of tho Preuch soldier/especially the French soldier on colonial service, follow each other in rapid succession. It seems but tho other day that I was commending "Barnavaux" to my readers, just as previously I had counselled the reading of the tales collectedunder the,, titlo of "Under tho . Tricolour." .And yet here/already, is a third collection of these V fascinating yarns, "Louise ".and Barnavaux" (John Lano), • tho translation/ as before, by Helen Berengere, and .the illustrations, in colour, by Helen M'Kic. Again, as before, M'. Millo takes us away inta many out-of-the-way corners of tlio world, to Tonquin, to Annam, Madagascar, and' Reunion, whilst the'sceno of tiio grimmest and grimiest of tho yarns is laid in Port Said. In a second sories, the author introduces us to Barnavaux as benedict and pero do famille, a reformeJ, ohastcned French Mulvaney, and 0110 jusij a triflo too much inclined to philosophise, even to preach—always after his own fashion. Personally, I prefor Barnavaux in an exotic environment rather than- in a Parisian bar-' racks, but he is always tho same amusing compound of virtues and foibles, and always worth 'reading, about. When'He TTame to Himself. 'Res Godwin, . the hero of Mr. gilaa Hocking's' latest istory "When Ho Came. to' Himself -'{Ward; Look and Co.; per Whitcombe and Tombs), inherits a fortune, and proceeds to ~Xve very extravagantly. Finding that, through a mistake, his boon oompanions imagine ho has suddenly lost ' all his money, and. promptly proceed to cut him, ho loaves his'ancestral; home and goes up to Loudon, wKero, ',ia a cheap Bloomsbury i boardinghpuse;, he poses ,as a poor man, and eefe .'to work to rnako his own living, devoting his incomo to various acta of bonovolence. ' How ho finds the truest joy of living is in a simple life, and incidentally makes the acquaintance of a charming girl, who lias no suspicion of his wealth, and loves him for his own sake, is told by Mr. Hooking in a ■ decidedly attractive way. A pleasant, wholesome and readable stoiy. Tho Flower of Sleep. The West Coast if Africa provides the background' for J. Morgau-de-Groot's highly-sensatio'hal story, "Tlio Flowor of Sleep" (Stanley Paul). Tho plot centres round a somewhat delicate incident, in which a native African chief and a beautiful and innocent young English girl figure prominently. The girl is for some time a captive, but is rescued by a British airman, whom sho marries, but ■when, tho woman's child is born, it bears upon, its breast an arroj? mark. The exact connection between this and the fatal West African "flower of sleep," and the subsequent results to both husband, and. wife...l., must not say. Mr. de-Groot is certainly to be credited with having conceived a singularly original plot. , Life's Shadow Show. "Life's Shadow Show," by ' Louise Gerard (Mills and Boon; per Whitcombe and Tombs) is a new departuro for this author, who has. hitherto specialised in' stories of Wast African life. Her heroine, Lorraine Sylvester, has somo trying experiences of life, in a German school, iu .the household of a Russian princcss, antl iii- the world of Paris and London/a world with vast possibilities of cruelty to a friendless young girl. Finally she marries a fashionable doctor, Daly to find, later on, that this gentleman already possesses a wife, and that she is merely his mistress. Then comes motherhood, and the sadly-deceived girl's fight against fortune. Success comes to her in authorship, and after some years, the first wifo conveniently dying, come, too, forgiveness of and reconciliation', with the man who had wronged hor. It is a well-written story, in its way, but I prefer the author's West African- stories. The City of Purple Dreams. The hero of Mr. Edwin Baird's "Cily of Purple Dreams/' (Ward, Lock and Co.; per Whitcombe aud Tombs) is, wlien. we first meet him, a down-at-lieels vnga■boud in Chicago, an amusing rascal, •gifted with, an eloqueuco which' makes him beloved of the" revolutionary' 'sec-' lion of Chicago's Socialists. BofricndW by tho daughter of a local millionaire wheat, speculator, ho sets to work, and by sheer fbrce of" impudence, '' plus a natural but hitherto .undeveloped genius for finance, contrives to build up a huge fortune. The millionaire snubs him when tho adventurer appears us a would-be son-in-law; and for a' time there,is a .tremendous contest of wits and financial intrigue:-,. Needless to. say, the adventurei "wiiis out." The stoTy is told with much vigour, and although no doubt many of its incidents are moi'o roma'ntic than, probable of occurrencc in real life, makes good reading. Tho announcement that "David Grayson," tho author of "Adventures on Contentment," is none other than Ray Stanliard' Baker, 'editor of tho "American Magazine," was made in March last. It has since come to light that the essays were written as far back as 1906, when ill-. Baker was living in a small country town in Michigan. .[SPECIAL OFFER. 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