SMOKE RINGS.
To quote the name of the author of these short stories is to give the reading public an assurance of their literary quality. It must be acknowledged, however, that Mrs. Stern gives a bitter flavour to these sketches which is absent from her more detailed work. In over two dozen stories there is hardly one in which the slightest sympathy can be felt with the point of view or actions of any character. It is impossible to help wondering whether this pungency is the consequence of the author's subconscious feeling that the short story must have a point. It will be remembered that in " Northanger Abbey " Henry Tilney gives a violent start on hearing the length of Catherine's stay in Bath, and on being asked why he was surprised, answers that some emotion must be shown, and surprise is the easiest to express. Can it be that Mrs. Stern finds bitterness the easiest point to make in the few pages allotted to a short story ? True the terrible little sketch, " The Life of Francesca Nugent," cannot be called bitter. It is, indeed, a strange psychological study, and the author succeeds in convincing her readers of the remorseless nature of literary vanity. This is certainly the most subtle story in the book, the problems in the others being far more superficial.
In the story called " The Dynamo," Mrs. Stern seems to make a confusion between matter and manner. It is entirely incredible that Neville Armstrong, who publishes exceedingly remarkable books, should be unable to write at all when the literary ghost who has inspired her novels withdraws her aid and support. In the successful novels Caroline, the ghost, never puts pen to paper. Now, those who write even a little know how fatally easy is the spoiling of a good idea in transcription. Character-drawing, style, sequence, and develop- ment, all must originate ie the brain which guides the pen, and cannot be supplied by an outside purveyor of ideas. The collection is far above the level of short stories, though people who seek for pleasant reading in fiction will not find it to their taste.
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