FOUR NEW BOOKS.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 June 1922, Page 2

FOUR NEW BOOKS.

The Australian Publishing Co., 218 Clarence Street, Sydney, have sent us the following: “Adrienne Toner,” by Anne Douglas -Sedgwick^—•Tjhose who .remember this author’s book “Tante” will agree that any work of hers will show brilliant analysis, and some very thorough reasoning. Adrienne Toner, a young American, wealthy and an orphan, marries an Englishman whose orthodox views of life have been tinged with the speculation of the years just preceding the Great War. Adrienne’s power does not lie in the fact that she brings wealth to a. poor but aristocratic English family, so much as that she has a creed which dominates her, and through which she influences those around her. How this creed proves insufficient to meet the strain of real trouble, how its application plays havoc with the lives of the girl who leaves ’her quiet English home to elope with a man already married, and the boy who dies in prison as ft “conscientious objector” to enlistment, how, incidentally, it causes Adrienne to lose love of husband and almost of all who know her —and yet enables her to win through —is the story. It is a, provocative book, scarcely exhilarating, though some of the minor characters are delightful, but is eminently a book to read. Barney Chadwick (Adrienne’s husband), his mother, and Nancy Averil, Barney’s “real love,” all live. Roger Oldmeadow, the disillusioned if not cynical friend of the Chadwicks, for long the bitterest opponent of Adrienne’s influence, and ultimately her champion, is a most interesting study. A book to buy, for it will bear reading more than once. “Tangled Trails,” by William McLeod Raine. —A really enthralling detective story, in which t'he action never flags, and the mystery is maintained to almost the last paragraph. A cowboy coming to Denvei- City to assist his sweetheart finds himself‘quite unwittingly in circumstances which give him a very fair chance of being executed for the murder of “Big Jim Cunningham.” To clear himself, he seeks the real murderer, and the chase is vividly portrayed. Anyone seeking an exhilarating story will enj iy “Tangled Trails.” •partners of Chance,” by Henry K. Knibbs. —Bartley, an “Eastern” writer, misses his train in Arizona, but - finds many adventures and a sweetlieart. It is a.* breezy yarn of men and women who live in the “big spaces.” There is horserustling” and quick shooting. The newcomer —not quite so green about a hors? deal as might have been expected—and the girl he falls in love with. A welltold story with characters one has met in similar tales, but which one is never loth to renew acquaintance with. “The Black Moth,” by Georgette Heyer. —Miss Heyer’s story is of the brave days when gambling and duelling were -part of every aristocrat’s leisure hours. iV’hen the quaint old city of Bath was tho temporary temple of wit, and highwaymen added to the interest of a journey across the countryside, of Merrie England. How Tracy, “The Devil” Duke of Andover, and Jack Carstares, sometime highwayman, though also EarP of Wynchman. both loved Dia.ua Beauleigh, and their methods of wooing make the plot of an excellent story. Breezy Squire Miles O’Hara and his wee wife Molly, Jim the ever faithful—though often foolish —servant, are well drawn. Richard, the weak brother of .Carstares, is perhaps the most ambitious piece of character delineation in the book. To those who like a wholesome story brightly told, and who wish for a rest from “problem” novels, Miss Heyer’s book can be strongly recommended.