SOME RECENT FICTION.

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 134, 1 March 1919, Page 11

SOME RECENT FICTION.

"Tha Magnificent Ainbersons,"

Amidst so much American, fiction, in which a sloppy sentimentaiisiii is.altcniaied by incidents which suvour.of the crude melodrama so popular with ■ patrons ot the kincma plays, such a novel as 1 lie Magnificent Aiubersunn." by Booth Larkiilgton (lloiliicr and Ktilughton), comes as "a nice deed .ili a naughty 'world/ a welcome oasis of cleverness and wit in the, general desert of banal and mediocre (wtion. To many venders Mi'-, '1 ark inston'k name is best- known as that of the creator of those two.delightfully ' human hoy.?," m Mark Twain would hnvft called them, Pe.'irod and his faithful friend and ally in diverting mischief, Sam; a pan of young rascals, almost- us amusing in their own way ns the ingenuous Tom Sawyer and the redoubtable Huckleberry Finn.' But Mr. Tarki ; n?lon proved by that, 1 fine story "Turmoil," and others that could lie" mentioned, that lie could deal with deeper problems of lite than those -which mischievous youth has to face, and hi his, new story confirms tlie impression ihot few 'American movc.isN can surpass him in -depicting changes in a' community,, and-in subtle and convincing . chiirncteiijsahoii... t - -the scene of his story is a.Jfirgiv .provincial city in Ihe Middle Wosl, a city which has sprung up into importance anil, wealth from very modest, almost purol) rural beginnings. The Anibersons belong io the sacred set of th«v "old families," a phrase' which,. in not a lew American cities of comparatively recent emergence from obscurity, seems to connote something like Ihot old, time reverence for the "county families which .still exists, though nowridnys more than a little battered hy social and industrial changes, in certain provincial centres in England. George Aniberson Minafer, the hero of the story, is a typicnl Aniberson, a grandson. of the great «la]or Aniberson, who founded the glories ot the family, He is, to tell the truth, a frightful young ass, imbued with an insufferable pride in his descent, and supremely oblivious of the fact that the. world, and especially-his native .town, was not created by a benignant Almighty for tho specinl benefit and glor:licet ion oi .tho . Ambei'smis. The purgation through which Mr. Tarkington makes this young gentleman pass before lie grasps the renlities'of lile nnd the truth that even "an Aniberson" can be done without, is severe enough, but Ihe author is very merciful, nnd in the end lets (lie bumptious young snob down i/uite lightly. In the conversion of George Aniberson Minuter from a most objectionable young noodle into a sweetly reasonable iirnl useful member of the community a delightful young Indy plays a prominent part. The story is full of

happily-satirical touches, and makes exccdingly pleasant reading, "Catherine Sterling." In Norma Larimer's latest. novel, "Catherine' Sterling" (Stanley' Paul and Co.) there is less of that'pictiiresi|ue local colour which was so agreeable a feature in those of the author's earlier • novels which had . Sicily and Egypt .for their backgrounds. The strong point of tho new story is its clever character drawing. The heroine begins by defying convention and entering into an irregular union with nil Englishman, a' married man, by whom, when left a penniless orphan in Japan, she is befriended. She comes into a large fortune, and, tho man. committing suicide, apparently out of a desire lo give her a iresh start in life, Catherine leaves the far -East, and lives first iu.J''lorenc.e and afterwards- in London. She is loved hy two men, one of whom she had met' on the voyage to Japan. At. first she dislikes him, but "souvent fenunn varie," and-in the long' run Hugh bowling .ivins the object of his passion. A prominent character in tho story is a young lady who is befriended by . the. heroine, a weak, silly, jealous little 'creature;- endowed- with a natural "cattishne.ss" which. for. n time she successfully disguises under a voil of giishful, -protended sincerity. "Catherine Sterling" will please feminine; renders moro than men, being-essentially a I study ■of a- woman's alternating, weakness and nobility.. Malo - renders- may find it just n trifle'tepid in human interest, after the full-blooded flavour-of, say. "On Elna" and "There Was n King in Egypt." ■ "The Price of a Throne." Mr.' Joseph Hocking is a 'practised storyteller, and none of his novels has better reflected his skill in weaving a' complicated plot, which ; ho invariably works out to a conclusion sensational, but always well- within the 'borders of probability, than the stories he has written during tho-war-'period. 111.his latest novel, "The Price, of a 'Throne" (Hodder and Stoughtan), 'we renew our acquaintance with the clever- British Secret Service agent, Captain- John Penrose, whose earlier adventures ill Greeco. are set forth in Mr, Hocking's "Tommy and the Maid of Athens.", Penrose, now returns to-Athens, 'accompanied-,bv; his friend Teddy Onslow, with-the. dual object of thwarting pro-Gernuiu intrigues and -finding the beautiful- Grcek-Amori-can girl, Athene Avebury,.to whom'ho is: engaged,, but who ■ lias mysteriously disappeared.. Tino th« treacherous plays a prominent part in tho story, one .of the most sensational- incidents in which is a ■ three-lnuulred-miW . motor -trip "of tl_io_ Greek King, who secretly meets the Kaiser, little suspecting that-his-"Swiss chauffeur" : is : in the British .Secret-Ser- . vice and has taken a note-of the whole ■ proceedings. Mr. Hocking lias never been nioro generous in his supply of dramatic and exciting incident,: and the final scene, in which the two -British-agents -outwit both the-treacherous Greek-King .and- a peculiarly resourceful - rind.' unscrupulous Greek statesman, ivlio is . cheerfully , prepared to,.betray both aides, is really an ■ admirable ■ pipeo ■ of stage"; management. Mr. Hocking takes, of'course, not a few liberties with history, but tlieso may well bo-forgiven the author of a story in which love -and la liauto politique.* are so ingeniously blended as in "The Price of a" Throne."

"The Mirror and-the Lamp,'.',..: Mr. W:B. Maxwell's latest .novel, his first' since 19)4, • "The "Mirror nud • tlio Lamp" (Cnsscll and .Co.yiier K. ami AV. Ma'okay), is a long and-carefully-written story dealing: with Mlie soul conflicts of a young man who renounces his long-cher-ished, religious beliefs and-work, partly as the result • of holiest theological doubts, and partly owing to his incurring social odium through his friendship for aud irregular union, with a. youngmarried woman who is. brutally treated, by her husband. . Mr. Maxwell's picturo.. of the .young.East Endcurate, .disillusioned of so many of his earlier beliefs and ambitions, soul-sick, with his sordid mid ugly environment,.' .and disgusted' with the .apathy and hypocrisy of some of those with whom he is in ecclesiastical contact, is somewhat drab arid dreary,-, but the .minor, characters' arc. very : well drawn. 11l the oiul. the ex-curate- bebomes a deep thinker and. adiriit'ted-au-thority .on -social problems, 'arid gradually blossoms forth..into "fame: arid' financial success, as. a .novelist. The .slbry is' specially gtro.ng in its character drawing—save, perhaps, in tho portrait of the woman for whom the hero risks'and sacrifices so much—hut Miv'Ma'xwell docs not seem altogether happy iii his filial working out of Edward Glinrchill's • religious difficulties. -It speiits, ' me at least, quite out Of /keeping with the earlier phases of the conflict. ' - ;

It is pronosed to erect at Ddver a slrik. ing iueuiorial to the many men*of tho Dover Patrol," 'and-other, with local connections, who have lost -their livesi in. the war. The memorial isftn-be a hugo granite gate, surmounted by ,-a Celtic cross, the whole about- 60 feet liiglu Designs in keeping with tlie object will be carved on it, and a number of plaques wiil eary the names of t.hose : commem-; orated. The memorial .is to be erected on' the cliffs overlooking..the Channsl. For Children's Hacking Cough, Woods' Great .Peppermint Cure*