A cum° has no right to complain of a novelist
who refuses to remain for ever in one groove. Versatility is an engaging quality ; besides, the realm of Ruritanic romance has been somewhat vulgarised by less accomplished invaders, and "Dolly Dialogues " are not capable of indefinite multiplica- tion. None the less, we cannot view Mr. Anthony Hope's increasing predilection for the delineation of contemporary manners without a certain amount of regret and mis- giving. The resolute elimination of the heroic and the fantastic elements has undoubted advantages. There is a large section of the reading public composed of persons who are inclined to be affronted rather than enter- tained by a narrative which constantly transcends their own experience. They have no objection to strong situations so long as they grow naturally out of opportunities which are within the reach of ordinary persons, and they find themselves more in touch with an author who introduces them only to personages with whose temptations and disappointments and triumphs they can, without any great effort of imagination, identify themselves. Whether novels which deal with life on these principles sink to dismal photographic realism, or rise to a plane in which faithful observation is tempered with hopefulness, depends obviously on the tempera- ment and outlook of the writer. Mr. Anthony Hope is neither a disciple of George Gissing nor of Anthony Trollops. His attitude of urbane detachment reminds one more of Mr. W. E. Norris than any other of his contem- poraries. When he exposes the weakness and pettiness of his characters he does so without callousness or cruelty, but hi a spirit of well-bred regret. He contrives to render their relations interesting, and at times almost engrossing, but never for a single instant do they inspire enthusiasm, or acute antipathy, or, indeed, any poignant emotion. One is inclined to resent the expenditure of so much talent and patient analysis on the portrayal of a number of people who, whether for good or evil, are incapable of any commanding achievement. Certainly indirect evidence of the prevailing dearth of ability may be furnished by the fact that so acute and accomplished an observer as Mr. Anthony Hope is found lavishing his talents on such undistinguished and unimpressive types of modernity as are to be found in his new story.
Subject to the limitations of his theme, in the choice of which we are ready to admit that opportunity as well as temperament may have been a governing factor, we have little but praise for the skill, the tact, and the subtlety with which Mr. Anthony Hope has handled it. Ashley Mead, who comes nearest to the role of hero in a story from which the heroic element is rigorously excluded, is
4ttikapeartkifidearabbic. ByAnthozny Hope. London : 7YEethuennagt 0o. , Dna
an excellent specimen of the young English gentleman of to-day, with engaging manners, plenty of friends, and rather more than average ability. After the usual public-school and University training, he has been called to the Bar, and at the . age of thirty ekes out a slender private income by casual con- tributions to journalism and the beginnings of a practice. When we make his acquaintance he has just been appointed secretary to a Commission, and soon after is offered a partner- ship in a great and prosperous firm of wholesale drapers in which his father had once held a share. The offer does not merely mean assured wealth, it practically carries with it the hand of Alice Muddock, only daughter of the head of the firm, a clever, capable, well-educated girl whom he has known and cordially liked all his life. But when the offer is made Ashley has already fallen under the spell of Ora Pinsent, a beautiful and fascinating actress, who soon makes it clear to him that she cares for him more than any one else; and he deliberately refuses the prospect of placid and prosperous domesticity for the romantic possibilities underlying the other attachment. There are, however, serious obstacles in the way, for Ora is a siren with a conscience, and there is a disreputable husband in the back- ground. Matters reach a crisis when the husband announces his intention of returning from the States, and Ora appeals to Ashley Mead to assist her in the task of renunciation. He acquiesces, though her histrionic satisfaction in the situation proves somewhat of a shock ; but at the critical moment her courage fails, and Ashley is left to face the husband alone, and to find that his motive in returning is not affection but blackmail. Mr. Jack Fenning (the husband) is easily bribed to clear out, and Ashley Mead leaves Ora under the impression that her husband never reached Southampton at all. So far, however, from tending to render the situation more compromising,, this episode only assists in the process of disillusionment. Ashley Mead realises more and more clearly that Ora is incapable of any sustained attachment, that the collective admiration of the public alone satisfies her, and that while bs chivalry and her prudence alike forbid any vulgar liaison, he is not prepared to face the sordid disclosures of the Divorce Court to make her free to become his wife. In the issue Ora goes off to America on a " starring " tour, and returns as the wife of Hazlewood, a middle-aged and accomplished comedian, who, unlike Ashley Mead, was hampered by no fastidiousness in taking the neces- sary preliminaries. As his most intimate friend brutally put it, " If you won't pay the price, you don't acquire the article " ; and Ora herself was unable to fathom the motives which restrained her lover from pressing his suit to its logical conclusion. The plain fact was that he could not altogether dissociate her from her past or feel reliance in her future, and no sane person is likely to question the wisdom of his decision. The keynote of her character is struck in her con- fession at the moment when her affection for him reached its culminating point : " I should be rather afraid never to change to a person. It would make him mean so terribly much to one, wouldn't it ? " In such a " servant of the public " there was no room for workaday constancy. And yet, though Ashley Mead is to be congratulated on his enlightenment and emancipation, it is impossible not to feel a certain contempt for a man who falls so completely between two stools, who will neither be an industrious nor an idle apprentice, and while preferring romance to common-sense, fails of achievement in either du:nain. Thus we have the paradox of a novel which has • an excellent moral, and yet obliquely inspires the reader with an admiration of characters less restrained by scruples and squeamishness.
A Bough Reformer. By Ernest Glanville. (A. Constable and Co. 6s.)—The cover of this book has "£ s. d." stamped all over it, and is also adorned with a frieze appropriately composed of the heads of alternate "bulls" and "bears." It is therefore no surprise to the reader to find himself immersed in a story dealing with financial transactions. The character of the hero, Westmacott Vane, is full of contradictions ; and although these contradictions are knowingly designed by the author, the whole figure of the man is not very lifelike, nor can the reader find it easy to believe in so crude a mixture of social philanthropy and rank dishonesty. Westmacott Vane, however, whether he is a credible figure or not, entirely dominates the book, and the rest of the characters-. with the notable exception of Westmacott's mother—are mere lay figures typifying the kind of human beings whom they are supposed to represent. The scenes, laid in Canada, have a good deal of wild romance, though the sudden development in the hero of the power of carving a striking and lifelike figure in wood gives a note of unreality even to the supernatural developments at the end of the story. No one who dislikes reading the slang of financial circles should attempt this novel; but those who can follow with interest the manoeuvres of " bears " and " bulls " will find it vivid and interesting.
The House of Barnkirk. By Amy McLaren. (Duckworth and Co. 6847-There is a good deal of. quiet charm about this Scottish novel, but it is a pity that one situation in the book is not in the very best of taste. An unpleasant impression is thus created in a story which is otherwise good reading. It is impossible not to be repelled by the scene in which a man unconsciously makes love to his own mother. Miss McLaren draws for her readers pictures of the society of Barnkirk, and manages to make her characters both living and interesting. In spite of the episode alluded to alxiie, Lady Jean Mowbray is a more attractive figure than the nominal heroine, Geraldine Beaton, and the hero (if the man who marries the heroine should always be so described) is so grave and self-contained a figure that he becomes a little wooden. A romantic element is introduced by the fall of the old tower and the midnight wanderings of "Daft Maggie."
Lagden's Luck. By Tom Gallon. (Arrowsmith, Bristol. 3s. 6d.) —Lagden's Luck is, to tell the truth, a rather conventional and melodramatic little story, though Mr. Gallon writes as usual with great facility and a certain command of his material. It is a little difficult to believe in the motive which causes Josiah Lagden to trick Dora Frith, the heroine, into becoming his nominal wife, but it is quite credible that Dora's father would have urged her to marry any one if he thought that he himself would have benefited in the slightest by the transaction. Stories of ,the.adventures, of a stolen diamond cannot be called original, but -the number of crimes of which it is possible to write is limited, while the appetite of the public for this kind of story apparently is not.
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