First in the Field. By the Author of "Recommended to
Mercy." 3 vols. (Hurst and Blackett.)—This is really a very uninteresting story about the loves of a certain young gentleman and an heiress, neither of them characters for whom it is possible to care. The most sentimental reader would probably remain indifferent, whatever fate had been pleased to order for them, and he will regard with nothing more than the pleasure which naturally arises at reaching the end of the third volume, the closing sentence, that 'the Colonel [he is the hero] has not as yet shown the faintest symptom of regret at having been (driven as he was by force of circumstances) the First the days of Laura Ripley's she is the heroine] heireashood—' in the fortune-hunters' field !'" The adven- tures of the second hero and heroine the writer doubtless believes her- self to have made more stimulating. At one time, it seems not improbable that Lizzie—that is the second heroine's name—will commit adultery. Our impression is that this is a source of interest which the Author of "Recommended to Mercy" has employed before. To us it is never attractive. In this case it seems singularly out of place. Lizzie is represented as a simple-hearted, affectionate creature, whose heart her husband won when he was a gentleman of good standing, and she, to all appearance, a farmer's daughter. That is not the kind of woman, we take it, to be in danger, when her selfish husband neglects her, of falling a victim to a fascinating colonel. The author may know more about the pathology of women's hearts than we do, but we shall take leave to adhere to our opinion. And whether she is true to nature or no, if she cannot find some more wholesome source of interest than this sort of thing, let her cease to write novels.
Previous page
