SOME RECENT FICTION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3191, 15 September 1917, Page 11

SOME RECENT FICTION

"April's Lencly Soldier."

The love etory of Lieutenant Hujjli Peters and of Miss April Treft'rey, as set forth in tho lively pages of Air. S. 1 , . B. Mais's novel, "April's- Lonely Soldier" (Chapman and Hall, per S. and W. Macko-y), is full of delightfully humorous touches, and is deciiiedy a Most eutcrtainine narrative. The author.is apparently in' close touch/ with public 6ehool life, and many of tho observations made bv bis hero and heroine, tho lattur an ex-iScwnham girl, are pungoiilly critical of some of tbo weak points in tlio English educational system of to-day. The story is told-in letters," aud more than,ono subsidiary sentimental interest ie introduced. April is a very charming girl, if we. may judge of her by her letters, but both' she and her lover exhibit what is. to.mo a curiously, exasperating spirit of detachment so far as tho war is concerned.' Indeed, some of tho hero's references (o tho war seem to uhow that be is one of those objectionable people who regard, the war is boing a most awkward and impertinont interference with the ordinary pleasant court-e of their everyday lifo, a thing to bo endured as patiently and cheerfully as possible, but a matter with the high issues of which they are personally as little con : corned as was' Phil May's bibulous old rustic, sitting outside his publichouse, with, the principle represented by the annual procession of the local Eechabites. This ii.tfection of deliberate detachment is apt to' become- just a- little irritating, and mars, for mo at least, the,pleasure derivable from a story -which is full of clever and interesting criticism on the books and writers of the day. Mr. Alais is, I should say, a diligent. reader of "Tho Nation" and the "New Statesman, a philosophic Socialist, who wilfully blinds his eyes to the terrible urgencies of the war. But his is a very pretty and pleasant story all the same, and is well worth reading. "Love the Adventurous." Mr. Charles Garvice has his own public, by all accounts a very big public, and when I read his latest story, "love tho Adventurous" (Hodder and Stouxhton), I do not wonder at his undoubted popularity as n novelist, for tho story has all the elements which make for success with that big public which looks first for a welltold story, and a very liberal dash ot sentiment, but does not desire to bo bothered with any studies in human psychology. There is a virtuous and industrious young engineer, who lives with his mother "down Stepney way, and a Balkan prince and a young, princess, who are in exile and incognito, who seek temporary retirement in the hero s home. Needless to say, tho youiig engineer becomes enamoured of the princess, and is ,sorely worried when the mysterious lodgers.' depart and disappear. j\ext cornea a change of scone to a Balkan 'Ruritnnia, with tlib young ongineer in chargo of a great bridge-building scheme. Next .-wo have a revolution and *he restoration of the prince, thn mysterious lodger at Stepney, to the throne of his ancestors. The princess is pledged- to marry an elderly court Functionary who .him a hold oyor'hcj father, and the love-sick young engineer'returns to the grimy ftast End, as heartbroken as it is possible for n healthy young Briton of twenty-five to be. Twiddle the ka.leidoscopo again, and we have a second revnluti.in, I ho death of the Balkanian prinndet. and the sudden reappearance, of his lovely daughter in Stepnov. After this the rest may be guessed. Mr. Garvice's fnirhfii public should vastly enjoy the latest production of his industrious pen. The Dancing Hours. I can warmly commend Sfr. Harold Ohlson.'e novel, "The Dancing Hours (London, John Lane), as a story well

nbove tliß ruck of everyday lictinn. Tlio ' lieroinc, Ibo adopted daughter of a paivnbrokor, rejoices in tho freedom from iier Eomen-hat grimy environment vhicli in Rtanted lier, plus a oomfortablo priyato income, by tho death' of her nominal parent. Sho succeeds by a device which, 1 confess, is scarcely to bo. defended, in persuading an aristocratic lady to tako her up and introduce her to good society, and, being as handsome as she is clover, is soon , beset by admirers. Hoi , secret is, however, known to a vulgar and unscrupulous publican, who persecutes her, first with offers of piarriage, and later on with blackmail. How this highly-objectionablo person is got rid of, how tho pawnbroker's supposed daughter turns out to bo a member of a county family, and how, after extricating herself from awkward entanglements with two other lovers, the heroine finds happiness with an artist admirer, whose heart is as true as lua features are homely, is all set forth by Mr. Ohlson in a welltold story, tho best feature of which is. its excellent character drawing. The Transactions of Lord Louis Lowis. The principal figure in Mr. Eoland Pertwee's "Transactions of Lord Louis Lowis" (John Murray, per Whitcorabo and Tombs) is a middle-aged peer, a connoisseur in pictures, bronzes, rare old furniture, and articles, of "bigotry and virtue" generally. Hβ is not only_ an expert in these matters, but combines with his artistic tastes and knowledge a Sherlock Holmes-iilcing for detecting ana outwitting ill-doers, especially tho cunning dealers who concoct skilful "fakes" wherewith to "tako down" wealthy and gullible collectors. Also, his lordship is, in his own and decidedly original fashion, a philanthropist. Mr. Portweo is evidently well posted in the wiles and guiles of unscrupulous art dealers, and the stories in wliieh his nobleman hero matches his wits against these worthies aro not only agreeably original in motit, but quite fascinatingly vivacious in their manner of narration. An original and decidedly entertaining book. Cheap reprints of Victoria. Cross's popular novels aro being issued by Mr. Werner Laurie. The latest actahons to tho series aro "Paula' and Lvelyii Hastings."