SOME RECENT FICTION.

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2902, 14 October 1916, Page 13

SOME RECENT FICTION.

"Brownie." "Brownie," by Agnes Gordon Lennox (John Lane) as a novel which will, I fancy, be more to the. taste of lady readers than of the so-called stronger ees. The daughter of a learned professor .'and'a high-born Itailan lady, the heroine is left an orphan when a girl of seventeen. Perseouted by a consummate scoundrel of Austrian descent, one Rudolph de Moro, 6he marries an English officer, much her senior, more out of gratitude for his having come to her rescue in a certain moment of peril than,from any deep-seated affection. Light-hearted,'sometimes a little light-headed, she finds in marriage an opportunity for indulging in a freakish behaviour upon which tho_ world can hardly be blamed for putting an awkward construction. Her husband, indulgent though, he ;is;. and'- deeply in love with her," leaves her fora while to. undertake' some official duties, . and the rascally de Moro, -who is more than .half insane, • turns up again ' and threatens to ruin her life. Meanwhile tie young'-wife -has" met a third man, lan Gladwyn, with whom she carries on a lore affair, at first platonic, but which soon .threatens to develop into a secret intrigue. De Moro,,gets the. wife to his chambers by a contemptible trick, and the husband, coming to her rescue, is shot dead, De Moro goes to a criminal lunatio asylum, and "Brownie" mates with her affinity. There is a liberal allowance of love-making in,the story, the dialogue in which_ is agreeably bright. ' But the villain of the piece belongs too palpably to what in Victorian _ days was known as the transpontine drama_, and the heroine's journey to Tibet, disguised as an Arab boy, in Gladwyn's company, but, so we are asked to believe, with her identity guite unsuspected by that gentleman, is the very reverse of convincing.

Violet Virtue. Lucy Lester, the heroine of Mrs. Gertie do S.' Wentworth-James's latest story, "Violet Virtus" (T. Worn or Laurie), is one of those supremely silly women whose stupidity, unfortunately, is as mischievous to other people—especially of the male sex —as to herself, She has very varying experiences, and is not always to blamo. But I confess I find the recital of her flirtations—quito a mild term, .under all the circumstances—makes tedious reading, and leaves a very nnploasant taste on the palate. Tlie most acceptable part of tho book is that in whioh the heroine's experiences when sho seeks, distinction. • as a, cinematograph actress aro' narrated. Thore must be readers who rejoice in this author's novels, for Mrs: Wentworth .Tamos lias quite a respectablo list of books to name, and " yet it would bo easy to quote passage® in this novel which positively reck with bad tasto. Apparently, liowover, there is a permanent market for the unreal and unwholesome in fiction. Bcoausii of Misella, Mr. A. TV. Marchmont generally has an interesting story to tell, and tells it in a refreshingly straightforward ntylo wbioti is quito his own. His latest novel, "Because of Misella"

(Cassell and Co., per Si and W. Maokay), has ■ hardly bo strong a plot as the author usually presents, being mainly concerned with the strange, and at times rather unpleasant experiences, of a young man, a very likeable fellow, whose identity is confused with that of a; thoroughgoing scoundrel for "whom the hero is persistently mistaken. The heroine, the fair Misella, is a very charming girl, a cousin of the rascally Dick Fellows, for whom tho other Dick, the virtuous and honest Dick Farrant, is mistaken. The action of the story is . brisk, the dialogue clever, and tho whole story, if not specially notable, is-distinctly readable. Miscellaneous. , Captain . Frank H. Shaw'is admittedIf in the front rank of latter-day English writers who make a specialty of sea-stories. Under'.the. title of-"At-lantic Nights and Other Tales!' (Cassell and Co.), we have a colleotion of the author's latest sea yarns.' They have each and all a vivid dramatic interest, and make excellent reading. (N.Z. price, Is. 6d.) Space limits permit of. little more than formal acknowledgment of - two recent additions to the readable and popular "Bookstall Series," published by the New South Wales Bookstall C 0... Ltd., "A Sport from Hollowlog Flat, by Arthur Wright, and "The Belle of the Bush," by George Darrell. In the former sporting episodes and the humours of back-blocks life are prominent; in the latter a murder mystery and the uncertainties of mining enterprises, are skilfully utilised in the mak-ing-of a well-told and exciting story.