SOME RECENT FICTION.

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 264, 27 July 1918, Page 11

SOME RECENT FICTION.

"Valour." ' ' ValoujV' by Warwick Deeping (Cas- 1 sail and Co., per 8. and W. Mackay and \\nitcombo and Tombs), may lie. tspeeially commended os a war story very much out or the ordinary as to ils plot and refreshingly original alike as to its gener;)} treatment and individual rhii raster drawing. The hero, L>i (TO iJnmnuwlfy, in the only and very much spoiled wn of a woll-to-do manuiaeturor. IK* joins tlio Army and goes to (inllipoli, where lw revolts uriiinsfc the stupidity, injustice, ami. brutality of his colonel. :uid is eventually "broken" for straight-out dcliancc ot orders. '1 he fun 11: for tins lies on but It sides, for llaimnersley from the first i.» a rebel against what lie considers a emel discipline, whilst Irs crsii)ni;isnliollieer completely misinterprets i]n< vmjlijt oliieer's character. (rum the Arniy JliUNmorsiey makes hi- way back to his native finvn, there to lie considered nii'l treated as a. shirker and coward. The girl to whom ho is engaged hiu?, however, i a shrewder and deeper insight into her lover's real nature titan have liis towns-

men, mid wilh lice father, a man of a truly nolili! c-Ji;<i;iu((']•, patiently nvvuiU the l °»V" fil'M ftlul mtuor npirit. Tlii) ilnv comes ivlien tlio rebel, deeply moved by the bad noivs from l.ho I rent, realises (lint, although ho may have ban badly I,rented, llio limit has been largely hits own. l[n enuils as a private- soldier, mid iinds in tlio ranks that sympathy and moral support which lm had tio iiuich re'l'iireil us _ a subaltern but had never received. He goes lo the trout in l-rance and behaves with conspicuous gallantry, eventually winmug a Vlieturning, a baiilv crippled man, to his home, ho is now able to prove to his ever-faithful. and loving Janet that; t?he anil not the world had viglilly judged lus real worth. The scenes on the (i.illipoli Peninsula and in bianco iu'o drain',il;t and picturesque, and tlio mam characters are strongly and convincingly drawn, an nxeeplion perhaps being found in the bullying colonel, a iiiiin nt a type now, wo should hope ami believe, luippily very rarely to be lound in command of a British regiment. ■ ,p? e P'H|> r always writes well, never sacrificing probabilities to exigencies bis plot or tho dramatic quality nt' his situations. Thero is an air .of realism njwut "Valour" which is eminently convincing, and tlio author must be specially congratulated upon tlio two stronglydrawn characters of the hero's parents. Valour' is in many ways nn exceptionally hue novel.

"Simple Souls." Mr. John Hastings Turner, tho author of !Miuplo Souls" (Cassell and Co.; per i ! r deserves tho grati!U 11 ,v ' w t ' PS ' l ' o to conquer a lit of tho blues, who seek distraction from everyday worries mid anxieties, or who frankly confess a preferoueo for amusement over till-ills, Mr. AY. \\\ .laeobs and Air. J. Storcr Ciouston must look lo vnoir laurels, for in "Simple Souls" Air. junior proves himself no meau rival as a tun producer. lli s hero is a British Peer, a duke, no less, whose hobbv is natural history, and who is delightfully oblivious of what his own or any other world may think or say of him. In the park -one day ho meets a working girl, ~1 9 taking au enforced holiday, and forthwith tho representatives of Park Lnn'o and Bcrmondsey enter inlo a fantastical and, on one side—the girl's side— {uglily sentimental compact. To tho horror of the nobleman's relatives litis compact has u matrimonial end in", at hrst basely misunderstood J>v relatives in both camps. "Although," in Gilbertian Jingle the gentleman's "intentions aro well meant from the beginning, they hud not included marriage. But love-aud luck ' are all on tha sido of the voung ladv\ and no reader of Air. Turner's most: amusing story will regret her clever turning of the tablas on tho nobleman's intriguing relatives, and the transformation of a purely formal marriage into a union of hearts as well as hands! Tho peer is a delightful compound of naivete, shrewdness, and good-heartedness. tho way in which ho triumphs over a haughty female relative, the "Sho AVho Mus Be Obeyed" of the Wynnghnmu ia.mil,v, displays tlio ducal naturalist in a very pleasant light. As for the heroine, with her astonishing frankness or speech—and epithet—her amnzemont tit her good .fortune, her readv wit, her audacity, and last, not least, 'tho splendid strength and trustfulness of her love sho is really an admirable creation. Tha secondary figures in (his diverting farcical comedy are almost as amusing as tho ptmcipals. By all means possess vourselt of a copy of "Simple Souls" if you value a iow hours' wholesome merriment. Some Magazines. Messrs. Cassell and Co. send us, through Messrs, S. and \V. Alaekay, comes of tuwr popular publications, Cassell a Magazine, Thu New Alagazme, and tho Storyteller, These magazines contain stories and sketches by many writers of the lirst rank, and afford a great variety o£ entwtainiag literature. Amongst the contributors k> the hu issuo oi Cassell'ii Alagaziue aro it. Chambers, .11. de Vera .Stacpoole, J. U. b. W'ylie, Olivo Uadslev, and Cenevievo Ward, the reminiscences of theatrical lifts by tlio last-mentioned being specially readable. A special feature iu The.Storyteller is a serial story, "Uncle Hyacinth," by Alfred .Noyes, who proves ho ouu write excellent fiction as well as grace-ful-verse. Other contributors are Elinor Alordaunt, Algernon Blackwood, Beatrice Grimshaw, and James B. G-. Cunvood— all well known to lovors of good fiction. The New Afagazino also offers an appetising menu. With any ono of these admirablo publications a long railway journey could ba quite cheerfully faced.