SOME RECENT FICTION

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 132, 28 February 1920, Page 11

SOME RECENT FICTION

"Circuits." The "circuit" system, under which ministers of the Wesleyan denomination change their residences and spheres of work every three veara, has its drawbacks both for ministers nnd congregations, but that these are often counterbalanced by nißnv advantages is marto clear in Mr. Philip Ciimbournco well-

written story, "Circuits" {Methuen and Co.), in which is recounted the life history of o very fine minister, Mark Frazcr. an ex-Rughyian and Cambridge "Blue," and his devoted wife, Honor. The Frazers arc stationed successively in circuits in the West of England, in a Lancashire cotton town, in Steel (easily to he identified as Sheffield), at. a Yorkshire, seaside resort, and elsewhere. In each place the Frazers make new friends and go through greatly varying experiences Mr. Cnmbourno has a decided gift for character-drawing, nnd pome of his pen-portraits of the church notables nnd members with whom the I'razen come in contact are sharply and convincingly drawn. Incidental to the main narrative are the stories of three sentimental attachments ov courtships, in all of which the reader cannot fail to becomo deeply interested. "Circuits" ii n novel very much out of the ordinary, nnd is specially interesting and valuable for the light it throws upon Hie tenacUv nnd influence of Nonconformitv upon t'.if English middle classes. Mv. Cambourne's Lancashire ind Ynrkshlri."Jrencs remind mo not a little of those of Vr.. .A'-noh! B"inctt's famous studies of "Five Towns" life.

"Tha Tender Conscience." Bohun Lynch, the nuthor of "The Tender Conscience'' (Martin Seeker, per Whifcombc and Tombs) is evidently a voung novelist to he reckoned wifti. He is as intensely modern in his methods as Mr. °iwinnerton. Mr. Caiman, »nd Mr George, and in his respect for good taste bo is infinitely the superior r.f the two last-named writers. Of plot ther* h little in "The Tender Conscience," which describes the bitter enlightenment which coiiies to a shell-shocked husband as tc the Teal character of the woman whe before, being his wife had been his mistress. Jimmy Guise is a fine fellow all throirgh, whereas Blanche is' the sort of womnn who can quite cheerfully ruin a man, a cynically unmoral creature of a specially unpleasant tyne. The officials of the Government. Department In which the war-disabled Jimmy finds the solace of work are drawn with perhaps just a touch of caricature, but they ;tro vnstlv amusing. Mr Lynch's style is delightfully crisp. • "The Tender Conscience" -is- {i short, slight piece of work, but in its literary crnftmanship is wellnigh perfect.

"Walking Shadows," The name of Alfred Noyes is usually associated witn poetry, generally imbued with a fine dramatic spirit. In sea balladry he has in. particular done very fine work. In "Walking Shadows" (Cassell and Co.: per S. and W. Mnckay) he now comes forward in. for him, a new Tole, namely, as a writer, of fiction. Of the ten separate complete stories included in the volume, severnl deal witli tho sen. others with the great war. In some of tho stories, as in "Marooned,'" (hero is unrelieved tragedy, in others, such as "Tho Man'from Buffalo," tho drnmatic is qunlifiod by comedy. Some of tho sea stories deal with the Poiiiic, others with strangle doin.es of submarines, and their British ami American "hunters," in the. Atlantic. In all tho style is crisp and vigorous. Mr. Noyes is evidently just as miieh as home in fiction as in' poetry. In iilie first story, "Unele JTyncinth." Mr: Noyes introduces, n stirring sen ballad, and in the final story, "The Hand' of the Master," thero are two scraps of verse, which will make J lie reader wish they had been much longer, so well do they renrnduoe certain a«nects of London life'. The coonpr Mr. Noyes gives us. some more stories as good as these the better his renders will' be pleased.

"The Vinegar Saint." "The Vinegar Saint," by Hughes Mearns (Penn Publishing. Co., Philadelphia; ner Whitcombe and Tombs), suffers somewhat from being written in a raWier flamboyant and nfFeotj-d style, and from that excess of positively saccharine sentiment with which t"* manv American novels are fairly drenched. It lis the lov<> storv of a young professor,. Allen Blyn. and a girl, much hi? junior, -wild rejoices in the curious name of Gerens Levering. Blyn falls in love with his piinil. and writes her a long (succession of letters, which, however, he does not send to her until she has .reached (ihe.nge of twenty. A prominent character in the story is a highly

eccentric Frenchman, Bardek, who, however, would havo heca *«*£"- vincing ilmd he been less of a camatnrc. "The- Vinegar Saint a like the proverbial curate's c gi j, good w parts The si.rph.snse of its tcntimenspoit forme, but Hiare no doubt, lint »«»») renders will not object lo it on this score.

"Dearham's Inheritance." In ".near-ham's Inheritance" (Ward, Lock niul Co.). Mr. Harold Bin<Ho*B wes us a vigorously written s ory, tho hero of whieh is a ynunsr Ens wbmnn, voui'h and ear.lv manhood are passed in British Columbia, where he wonts as a telegraph linesman nod contractor, ana entires in various inwing vcii-uics. Jim Dearham has two partners, Jnww Carrie Winter, brother and sister U. nen the hero is summoned to England to take possession of a landed estate in Cumberland the Winters accompaio ihim. For a tims- Dearham is attracted bv a beautiful English ccrnsm, to whom he becomes engaged. Af the result, however, of the rascally plotting or a jealous and unscrupulous relative, the vming sf|ui-e nearly loses his life. M» caved bv the faithful Carrie, who 'Has long loved 'him in secret, arid the bnglish girl, coining to the conclusion that her engagement has been a mistake. Jim and Carrie enter into a new contract, whieh is witnessed this time by a elergvman and not by a lawyer. Ihe earlier Canadian scenes in (he story aie excellent, and the author is also vcw successful in showing the bewilderment of the ex-Canadian when faced by oldfashioned British social customs and farming mcHinds. A very readable and enjoyable story. "Blue Moons," "Blnfl Moons," bv Myfanwy Pryce ("Fodder and Stonghton) is. a simply and nleasantlv-toM story, tho heroine of which, Mugsie, lives with her uncle in a Welsh vicarage, and has great literary ambitions. A young curate is her devoted admirer, and for some time is favoured. But the war comes and Magsie, in cimnmnv with her friend, sljTn,_who nossesses tho curious surname of Bellnull.' finds, her way to London, -whore both ioiu the staff of one of the new Government Denartments. In the end, after a nrolonged rivalry between the two friends it is the gentle Magsie, and not the more brilliant Jlyra. who wins,the mn.li whom both girls evidently, consider a matrimonial prize. There is a certain engaging naivete about Jliss Pryca s stvle. but some readers may find the story iust a trifle tepid in interest. Laeli chapter is prefaced by a set rf verses, some of which are characterised by a distinctly graceful lyrical turn.