lieiif w of Eevieu-3, 1/ U/IS 



9-'.'^ 



BOOKS IN BRIEF. 



The Flirt. By liooth Tarkiii^toii. (Hod- 

 der and Stovioliton, 3s. (kl.) 



The autlior of " ^Monsieur Hcaiicaii-e " 

 tj;ives us a not iiimsual American mixture, 

 the crookedness and virtue of love ancl 

 finance. The hook opens admirably, and 

 we anticipate gay and exclusively " frivol- 

 ous hours, hut after a chapter or "two .11 1-. 

 Tarkin^^ton condemns us to more weari- 

 some excitements. The younu man with 

 the nice name (^Mr. Valentine Corliss) and 

 the lovely white clothes turns out to he 

 an uncomi)romisin<^ villain hent on com- 

 pany promotin^^ with good men's names 

 and money. Cora Madison, with the 

 si)arkling eye and perfect figure, becomes 

 a harsli and violent little minx. To please 

 Corliss, with whom she is for the moment 

 in love, she persuades her father and the 

 admittedly <lull good man to whom she is 

 "half engaged," to support a bogus oil- 

 field in Italy, and when she sees what a 

 ruin she has wrought she makes a run- 

 away match with the dullest (and richest) 

 young man of all those who ader(> her. 

 The story is livened by an odious little 

 boy who rejoices in plaguing his sisters, 

 and Mr. Tarkington introduces an unex- 

 pected element of dare-devilry in tlie per- 

 son of a rejected lover who has taken to 

 drink. The villain is shot dead, and the 

 rejected lover commits suicide, in brief 

 but thrilling paragraphs. 



Ml/ Linly's Gaitei . ]5y Jaques Kutrelle, 

 (H odder, 3s. Gd.l 



Another, and unhajipily the last, contri- 

 bution to tile world's amuseiiient by the 

 author of " The Thinking Machine." who 

 was one of tbo.se who went down witli the 

 "Titanic." In this l>ook , his detectives 

 ai'e in search of the Countess of Salis- 

 .. bury's garter, which had been .stolen from 

 .. the Biitish Museum. It being sui)i)osed, 

 and rightly, that an American million- 

 aire was the culprit, the British (Joverit- 

 ment sent over one of the most famous 

 men from Scotland Yard. The hero of 

 , the story is in the Kussian Imperial .ser- 

 vice, and he and the villain are the centre 

 of innumerable f.ilse clues, which keep, the 

 reader on the thrill of (expectation 

 throughout. 



(/of/'.s Chiy. By Alicr and Claud .\skew. 

 (Unwin. 3s. (id.) 



An engrossing story, in which two women 

 are pi<'tur<'d- the one Ang(>la Clitt'ord. is 

 neither a ''witch nor a saint, but just 

 a woman who takes a certain amount of 

 inter(>st in her tel!ow-l)eings " and shous 

 that interest by promoting social ciuhs, 

 erii>ples' homes, etc. ; the other is de- 

 scribed as a " shoppy "—a very derogative 

 • nickname for a West End mannequin, 

 Her beauty is statue.S(|Ue, but .she her.self 

 is vulgar " and ])assionale, though witli 

 much good feeling at the bottom, .\ngela, 

 with utter forget fulness of danger, fre- 

 quently goes for a sort of rest-cure to a 

 iittle cottage at -.the bottom of u d,li> 



gerous clift in Cornwall. "Here she liyes 

 alone, an old woman coming in to tul.v 

 up the house for her. Botli Angela ami 

 tlie maniu'fiuin an- victinii-secl in <liff<'r- 

 (uit fashion l)y a handsome man, a))par- 

 eiitly without any good points. His death 

 is the olimaS of a tensely diainatic scenes, 

 after which one of the wronged wortien 

 shows by self-saci'ifice that sli<\ too, is 

 made of •' God's Clay. ' Whether she 

 could havo saved her friend l)y any other 

 method than the one she chose is a ques- 

 tion for the mol'alist, l)ut not for . the 

 novelist. •'"'' ' ' . • 



W'di in .s'/)((<,v'. By liouis Gastine. (Scott 

 Publishing Co., 3s (id.) 



This lomance of aircraft and a consequent 

 war between Franc<> and Germany has 

 been translated by Mr. Marchet. In it 

 the Prussian Chancellor, concluding that 

 war was inevitable, considered that in 

 Germin;<r's interest . it ' should take pliice 

 quickly, and i)lanned that a French avia- 

 tor shouhl l)e induced to fly to IJerlin un- 

 annmmctHl and display tlie French flag 

 over the German ca])ital. A woman was 

 found who, on accoitnt of •'' ftuni<>r crime, 

 could be terrorised and t'ompelled to be- 

 come the Chancelloi-'.s tool. A brilliant 

 young Frenchman is led by her to suj)- 

 pose that the Kaiser w'ould gladly wel- 

 come a Fi-ench airman. Travelling by 

 ' night, he hovers over Berlin and descends 

 when day comes supposing that he is 

 expected and will be well received. In- 

 stead, tlie Chancellor has prejiared a gun- 

 fire reception : a 'riot is engineered, the 

 French Ambassador ;ind his wife mal- 

 treated, the Emiiassy attacked, and so on. 

 The Kaiser is overcome with anger and 

 sorrow, for, in concert with a noble 

 Frenchman, he has been ])!anning to main- 

 tain peace. Meanwhile, the Chancellor 

 has lieen at work in I'aris also. Crowds 

 att.i.ck the (iernian {'".mbassy and indivi- 

 dual German iiot.ii)ilities. War is the re- 

 sult, and it ext<'nds even to the Came- 

 roons and the Soudan. The romance con- 

 cludes with a pi-omise of felicity for tiie 

 aviator, wliilst the lady is lefi in" company 

 with a tilackniailei-. - 



The Sjinic KixjiH. By Mrs. ixomilly FihI- 

 den. (Duckwoith. ."<s. (id.) 



Mrs. Homilly I'edden has a very light 

 touch — more so than one would have sus- 

 [x'cted from " The Sigii "" and a genuine 

 sense of fun. A honeymoon couple, re- 

 joicing in their villa at Capri, tling broad- 

 cast to friends as far di.^tant as the 

 Uuifi'd States the fact that they have a 

 spare room, .and when all the fiiends are 

 injudicious enough to accept the hint, 

 complications bi>gin. The hosts have to 

 take to the roof, which the bride's youth- 

 ful .\merican mother and her Hu.ssian ad- 

 mirer also s-ele<'t for a moonlight promen- 

 ade, including a declaration, 'rhen there 

 are alaiius ami excuisions, and 'Mrs. Fed- 

 , den igets i)lent.v of amusement out of the 

 gfCiiial ass.irtment^ of caricatures she has 



