730 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



September 1, lOlS. 



almast unuoticed by the critics. When the 

 " Dop Doctor" dawned upon an aston- 

 ished world, the critics almost fell over 

 one another in their haste to acclaim the 

 writer, and it is not much wonder that Miss 

 Graves believed that it was only because 

 she had assumed a man's nam.e that her 

 work commanded success. 



The truth is that her short stories, pub- 

 lished chiefly in The, Wniid, had the fate 

 of otlier short stories — tiiat is, they were 

 read with keen interest, but soon forgot- 

 ten; whilst the "Dop Doctor." having the 

 space to give a larger exhibition of the 

 writer's intense dramatic force and ex- 



traordinary power of characteris.itiou, 

 held the reader breathless, not for ten 

 minutes only, but for hours and day.s. 



TJiG stories here given to the public are 

 models of what short stories should be — 

 never banal, never wholly sentimental, 

 yet with sentiment cropping up in an un- 

 expected way, unconventional and virile. 

 Readers of the book will want to retain it 

 as a tr<'asured possession for an occasional 

 leisure half-hour. No two stories have a 

 likeness. "A Ohintz-covered Chair" is 

 brutal in its naked force, whilst "Clair- 

 voyance" is trivial in comparison. 



SOME INTERESTING NOVELS. 



Strenqth of the UiUs. By Hallnveli Sut- 

 cliffe. (Paul, 3s. 6d.) 



Mr. Sutcliffe's novel has for its basis the 

 old theme of the sturdy dislike of the 

 country gentleman to the innovation of 

 business, and the unrest of competition. 

 His hero is the only son of a North Coun- 

 try squire who has had the pleasant up- 

 bringing of an ancient house, where the 

 easy hospitality' of its owners had been so 

 much a matter of course, that even a debt 

 has not been allowed to alter ii. Straight 

 as a die — a good fisherman and a sturdy 

 huntsman — Roger Holt lia.s never been 

 rouswl from his tranquil laziness of mind 

 until the knowledge comes to him that the 

 increasing burden of their debts, one es- 

 pecially which is almost a crime, is kill- 

 ing his father. Their land lies in the 

 moorland hill country, where of old the 

 men who tilled the land did their own 

 wool-combing, and neitln.'r steajji nor fac- 

 tories had made tlieir api)oarance. Roger 

 Holt is wakened up fi-oni his lethargy by 

 his love for a beautiful neighbour. He 

 sets to work, and himself starts a small 

 wool factory. His lady love taunts liim 

 with being a tradevsman, and will scarce 

 speak to him. To the father his son's 

 course is anathema, so wo get exactly the 

 elements necessary to turn a very ordinary 

 young man into a hero. Roger Holt suc- 

 ceeds in his business, vanquishes peace- 

 fully the rioters who had threatened to 

 burn down his factory, and, as will be 

 readily imagined, his lady love recog- 

 nises his nobility, and jnarries a mill- 

 owner. The plot is comparatively negli- 

 gible; it is the characterisation, the white 

 beauty of the moors, and the fine fi^^ht of 

 Roger against circumstances which en- 

 thi-alls the reader from beginning to end. 



The iMic-Bringers. By C. B. Lancaster. 

 (Hodder.) 

 Mr. Lancaster's story takes place in the 

 North-West of Canada, and his heroes 

 are two of the monnte<l police. The ac- 

 counts of their adventurous rides, their 

 taking prisoners alone by the mere majesty 

 of the law seem almost bevond the bounds 

 of belief. The two men have been rivals 

 in love; the strength of the one lies in his 

 spiritual side, in the other the animal 

 nature is predominant. Tn the course of 



their work the liner of tlu> two — Tempet^t 

 — falls in love with and idealises a half- 

 breed girl. Later on this girl is convictod 

 of a crime, and the second man is detailed 

 to search for her and bring lu-r to jus- 

 tice. The story abounds in rich, full- 

 coloured description, vigorous, and yet 

 delicately put. It is not a novel which 

 ran be rushed through in a short railway 

 journey, but is one to take up and read 

 leisurely. 



The VisKiit of ihi' Via is. By Curtis Yorke. 

 (Long.) 



A novel tohl in peculiar fashion. In the 

 opening chapter we are introduced to a 

 girl who is fulfilling the ordinary lot of 

 endeavouring to earn her own living as 

 a daily governess in London. In the next 

 chapter Berenice receives a letter from 

 an unknown godmother who offers to adopt 

 her, and henceforth she has a delightful 

 time, and marries the man she loves.- The 

 husband is a medical man, and his cousin, 

 who has fallen in love with her, induces 

 the doctor to speculate. In a chapter in 

 which Curtis Yorke holds the reader in sus- 

 pense the cousin comes to consult him ; he 

 has heart troul)le, is overcome, aiul ju.st out 

 of his reacli is the oap.sulo containing tlit- 

 drug which relieves the agony. Bereniw 

 hesitates to give it him, ... but just 

 here comes the singularity which gives 

 piquancy to the story, and to reveal tlie 

 end would bo to give the author away. 



The Dratfon. By. M. P. Shiel. (Richards.) 

 One of Mr. Shiel's tales about the destiny 

 of China and Japan. He says that there 

 is bound to be a fight to the finish i)e- 

 tween the English-speaking nations and 

 the yellow races, and in this novel he 

 describes the awful and sanguinary con- 

 flict, making the English-speaking allies 

 conquer in the end. 



CoJumbine at the Fair. Bv Kate Horn. 

 (Paul, 3s. 6d.) 

 Miss Horn's heroine is a beautiful, sel- 

 fish, country girl. Tempted by the lure 

 of money and gaiety, she leaves her home 

 secretly, and only awakens to the realities 

 of life when her host makes fierce love to 

 her. " She had to dance in Vanity Fair, 

 over the sharp stones, with bleeding feet, 

 and weary heart, before she won her soul." 



