The Shuttle of Fate. By Caroline Masters. (Frederick Warne and
Co.)—This is a good story of English North-country life of the sort which recalls Mrs. Gaskell, however, more than Char- lotte Brontë. The quasi-hero, Stephen Cronshaw, alias " Owd Never-no-More," is a good specimen of the Lancashire millowner of the old school, who was not unwilling to be kind to those in his employ up to a certain point, but who resolutely opposed strikes. The plot runs essentially on the familiar lines of a quarrel between master and men. Ultimately, old Cronshaw's will is broken, but the breaking of that will means the collapse of his life. Then into the tragedy—or half-tragedy—of the book there are inwoven the story of the old man's son, Dick, who has forged a cheque, and whom, in consequence, his father cannot forgive, and the love-affair of his niece Barbara and his manager Basil Brunton. This manager is really a very fine fellow, and he is admirably drawn. Bob Ashworth, the nearest approach to " the villain of the piece," that there is in the book, but who is not wholly bad, is also a capital sketch. There are some truly stirring but not unnecessarily sensational scenes in the book; and it is written in what, without any affectation, may be termed a " pleasing style." Its purpose is obvious enough, but it is not obtruded upon the reader.
Previous page
