SOME RECENT FICTION.

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 121, 15 February 1919, Page 13

SOME RECENT FICTION.

"The Boardman Family." In her latest story, "Tlio Boardman Family" (Now l'ork and Melbourne Macmillan and Co.), tho well-known American novelist, Mury S. Watts, gives us ft story which, if of less marked dr.v matio strength in its plot tlmn were the snmo author's "Nathan Burke" and "Thai ltise of Jennie Cushiug," affords Mrs-( Watts yet another opportunity for displaying her gift of character drawing and keen analysis of tho feminine soul. Nominally concerned with tho fortunes of the. Boardman family, whoso home is in one! of tlio minor American cities, the story' is largely confined to . tho varied experi; ences of the quick-witted, ambitious Sandra, who, tiring of the dull round or middle-class existcnco in. a provincial centre, and. ambitious of repairing the family fortunes, goes to Now York to tako up -tho career of a professional dancer, with lier good-looking and unprincipled brother, Everett. Tho first part of tlio book is taken up with ft description of the family's life in the oltlfasliionod society of the city,'and their friends pnd acquaintances, jfrs. Watts is, I think, at her best in her pictures of the simple, and, on the.whole, pleasant, if rather narrow, social envirdnmcnt. in which.the rebellious nnd ambitious Sandra, grows up. Later 011, when she takes her heroino and her readers to New York nnd describes the life of tlio theatre, sho is less successful. Her portrait of the pushful and vulgar, but kind-hearted, Jew impressario, who proves himself such a good friend to tho girl, is, however, a piece' of masterly characterisation, and although from the first tho experienced novel render. foresees as a certainty the ' marriage of Sandra to the playmate of lier youth, tho rod-headed but faithful and honest Ram Thatcher, of the International Film Trust, not a few of them will regret that Mrs. Watts should send that genial anil amusing bounder, Mr. Max Levisou, to a watery grave in the -Lusitania disaster. For the selfish, contemptibly mean brother, who shares. tlio impresario's fate, Icgs regret will be felt. I can warmly comment? Mrs. Watts's lateststory as one whioii is well worth buying. Dr. Johnson in Scotland.

All who know and lovo Boswell'a immortal "Life of Johnson" should make a point of reading a delightful essay, "Johnson in Scotland,"- which appears in the "Times" Literary Supplement for Octobcr 3. Tho writer, I should say, is Mr. John Baily, whose admirable little book, "Dr. Johnson and His Circle," is one of the best of all the volumes in the "literature" section of Williams and Norgato's admirable "Home University

Library."' with some amusement, one of the of political wisdom quoted J i on' Thtf Journey to the Hebrides" li.y ifo "Time.?" essayist. Johnson said onco.. Why, sir, most political experiment# are very laughable tilings." in the he is' wore .guarded, but notmnch i/ioro hopeful: "lif* political reguations good cannot bo complete, it can oflv lie predominant." Personally, I hnvojhhniys considered "The Journey. <o tho Hebrides" (lie best; of Bosiveli. t'rqk« it may bo remembered, inserted, it. injtlic middle of tho "Life," thereby ™rnte Mncanlny',s stern disapproval ill tho /Edinburgh j?cviow," lint, after all, it ins chronologically in its right place. In pe Birkbeck Hill (tho Oxford) e<lition it ecupies a separate vohiino at tin l end offhe "Life." The "Journey" has nlwffs been one of "Liber's" - favonrito beside books, despite the popular theory; tilt the "Great Lexicographer," ns Becky. Sarix-'o employer, Miss Piiikorton, called iHi, wis never at his liest when lie was tf awny from his beloved Fleet Street,

fainted Gold. U'l "Tainted Gold" (Ward, Lock, and >1j 1 ?? r M n * com,) o iHKI Tombs), Mr. .J. anl Trent, who paro us that excellent novel, the Foundling," draws a dramatic picture of tho struggle between lovo i and honour of a young barrister, Garth fJJunston, who discovers that liis father's vast lortuno lias been nmased by him, untior tho assumed name of Jasper Bossoil, by unscrupuplouß usury. Garth's fiancee, l\al<ln Gretton, is the daughter '"lionet who lias been one of Bosvict,"ns > , alul f °r ft. lon- lime the ' t'l of true love is sadly rock-strewn, for a. rascally ,Tmv tinancier, who covets the lovely. Nalda, endeavours to ruin her over by exposing hi s father. In tho long run Garth discovers that he is only nLf y B °"' f' 10 " lai ! lteil Wld." or most ot it, is made ovw tb various pliil.' ftnthropio institutions, and tho rascally Jierseoiitor of the long-suffering pair 'ting finally outwitted, even-thing ends OuUH n f"!' 1 ' 1 n " d hor fi "' lllful lov6l '- VJ'iite n good story in its own class.

"The Black Figure." sJ^r,. Sl v )S a g ,°, fld t,lirt y . ycara oi" so since Mi l<crgus JI ujhp, then a Dimedin 'The'thf° d h 'f flrst sensational story, Jhe Mystery of u Hansom Cab," an<ijet Ins pen 15 still as busy as ever aiu j his brain shows „ 0 falling off in' its eniweity (0 create fiction 0 f that fullHavonrdd melodramatic kind, of which J J l ,"'" 6 lln J Proved himself so skilled a producer, In Jiis latest story, "The Sl' Ifrinre (Ward, J.ock and' Co per Whitcombe and Tombs), Mr. Hmne'proA^ S nhi« lOS i senc^o , U3 ' m(,|l,l of sensation. A statue whose outstretched hand my* teiiously opens and closes as the fortunes ot it» possessor vary from good to 1 evil, a wicked uncle who Dtotffl W f ealthy I,rother «nS plots the murder of a niece who stands' tnr£? ni V i and QU inll e«taiico; a mystenons Frenchwoman, suspected of being a secret service ngent; and an equally mysterious housekeeper, who is secretly married to the wicked ' uncle-all To"e plus a pair or two of lovers, and the usual family servants, defectives, etc., help to keep the drama at a high pitch '^h e machinery crcaks a little at tunes, but on the Whole tlio plot is Morml out with no small ingenuity. "Green Dusk for Dreams," Ultra-sentimontal, not to say posilively saccharine, is tho general tone of Cecil AaniPs novel "Green Dusk for Dreams" (Stanley laul and Co.), which is mainly concerned with the love story "f a young lady who relinquishes convent life to become a helper in the household of an autocratic French family, in a beauuiiil old chateau in Provence. Comes tho young master of tho chateau, Monsiour lo Gapitaine Etienno, and an English officer-friend, and then a pretty love slory, a marriage, and tho.- inevitable separation as war duties call mvay the husband. J lie handsome, romantic young fellow is wounded, invalided home, and dies, but tho story closes with tho promise of Lorraine's future happiness M the wito of her husband's English friend, always, though in secret, the girl's devoted lover. The author is nt her ,)05t ;■} }>F -description' of the simple, peaceful life at tho chateau, and tlie story as a whole has no small merit in its reflection of the heroic spirit of sue-' rifico and determination by .which the French peoplo have been so nobly animated during tho past four years'