SOME RECENT FICTION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 39, 9 November 1918, Page 11

SOME RECENT FICTION

In tho Trollo'po Vein, In his latest novel, ''Abingilou Abbey" (Stanley, Paul and Co.), ilr. Archibald -Mai'.-ihall, to; whom wu aru indobted for whjit is jiow » i|ii,ite respecla'bly long I series of plci\s;>iifl.v wnitton r.nd iigrceaWy ■ rciidiibln stories of county society life in . Ihp Old Ciiiinlry, strikes no very new ■ note. The Graf to us arc wealthy London- ; ors, who buy a •clinritiins; c!d country i house, with its acconipanim-iiit of i\ vil- i lagp, ii not largo estate- I nnd a church living-aud"relllc down to; enjoy ii'ural lifo. They arc h. delightful family, n jjood-iinturcd'fatlicr, <•>. widower, and a son, a precocious and vastly amusing lad, and throe, delightful daughters, ! goud examples of ihoso ''fair young Kng- I lish girls" whose ph«rm"Mr. Austin Dob- ; son was once wont (<i sing.'' One of the i <liiugh(pi's is fawinnlcfl by'a I'rench mar- | rjuis of Anglophile tnslee, b:it Klill,,n.s a ; foreigner, by no:moang n desirable parti, ; so George Grafton thinfo, for his ■ favourite daughler. The you.ng lady docs.l not sco things with her father's eye?,.and ; tho usually severe atmosphere of tho | family is for a time sadly disturbed. As in his previous (-'lories, especially " tlioso i which dealt with tho fortunes of. Iho Clinlnns, -Mr. Marshall follows his'favouriio Trollopean model in introducing, us to u wide circle of characters taken. from the various | grade's of county society. For the most | part they are very pleasant folk to meet, j. albeit thero is inoro than ono amiable ! eccentric, andoneof the most disagreeable j parsons it has ever Ijo'i'u' my lot to en- ] counter in tho pages of a.novel. ■ Tho j Nov.. Salisbury jlcivcr, M.A.. llio vicav i of Abingdon,' with his• bumptuoua cgot- j iem, his incurable selfishness, his irrc- j prcssibie- flair ior a scandiiK: and, worst i of. all, his most objcctidnablo habit of' "pawing" any pretty girl'.over whoni lie j imagines he possesses clerical, authority, j is a.most unplensant poreon, and not since tho famoiis Mrs. "• Proudic ivna I bearded and defeated in hei; own house, ] as roaslers of the Barchestcr novels, may rerusmber, have. I,come across so. cruel a, debacle as 'that which finally befalls tho vicar 'of Abingdun. Tliel or cariciitura—seums, indowl, 'just'., a trifle pvordone and ill-rinturpd.' . Tho i family history of tho Graftonsiife not con- | eluded in tho last chapter, iV seciuel being i clearly to come; indeed, I believe that it ha,3 already been published in an early I American edition. Exception Jitis been I taken to Mr. Marshall's stories us ignoring the lower grades of society, but even granted their limitations, they undoubtedly make' very delightful reading. If Mr. Marshall prefers "to look at tho pleasant side of life and to, turn a blind eye to tho social iirphlems of the age that is I His affair. His novels have a s]jeeial charm of their own, and 1,, for one,' do not feel inclined to quarrel with ' the author's methods. . -\ "Twelve Birthdays." <i ' ■ In "Twelve Birthdays" (John Murray, per Whitcoiubo and Tpmbs), Mrs. Winifred Peck gives us a well-written, rather pathetic etory, in which is traced tUo career, from infancy to the age of twetitylive, of the. son of a cduniry gentleman nnd oflicer in the Army, :tho latter a handsome but srif-indnl- j' gent man, and a ;nother who' m immeasurably his. suporiur in.intelInctual and moral strength. The mother .dotes on the son, whose character she fears may be impaired by iiilifrited evil influences, und J[rs. Peck is singularlr successful in depicting tho clash of wills between the two parents, and showing how this alVects the' son. Tho story, ends in tragedy, for the careless, felfisli, utterly unmoral Henry Dcyno is killed iu action at Vprcs, having at last "made good," and .tho same day his eon, Hie object of a maternal love nnd dare which is most pathetic iu its wistful anxiety, gives up his bravo young life al; l)ixmmlo whilst attempting to suyo'a friend. This is a ypVy beautiful,. if in a way father painful, stury. "Perpetual Fires." In "I'erpeliial Fires" (George Allen and l/nwiii) Mr. Uric T.eadbeltei , , irhose clover Klory "linin Before > Seven" may bo remembered by my leaders, sketches tho history for three generation's, of an old Northumbrian family, tho Longways, oi' j Spitalhnugli. Nicholas -Longwny is a | clever, and fairly successful novelist.. His* «ori, Aiithony, a self-conscious, cohcciUvi ~ fellow, is a medical man, whilst tho third generation is represented by his son,: Oliver, a musical genius, whose death at '.lie front is reported on tho same day j that his name becomes famous in Lon- ; <lon musical circles by the performance of his symphony. Tho author is at his best in tho Spitiillinugh scenes, his rural. characters being well drawn and convincing, and is also very-.'successful in j showing the subtle influences which locality and family tradition exert in ; the development of character. With its j series of pictures of English upper and middle-class life in town and country in ; the forty years before tho war, the story . possesses no small interest ;w> a>sociolo-i gicnl document.' ! [.Reviews "of other, novels held over.] i