' A SOCIETY NOVEL.*
Two Bad Blue Eyes is not a good novel. Some of the characters are repulsive, only two.or three are attractive, there is next to no incident, hardly any plot, and the hero and heroine fail to win our sympathy. In spite of these drawbacks—or, perhaps, because of them—" Rita's " latest novel seems to be as popular with subscribers to circulating libraries as some of its predeces- sors, and we are not surprised that it has run into a second edition. Her style is easy and flowing, her puppets are all in society and all rich, several of them are titled ; though often dull, she is never coarse, and albeit some of her situations are risque enough in all conscience, she rarely describes sin with- out reproving it, or loses an opportunity of stigmatising the vices of the society whose habits she describes.
Two Bad Blue Eyes begins where most novels end,—with the marriage of the heroine. Lauraine Douglas is the beautiful and high-spirited daughter of a weak and worldly widow, who had succeeded in mating her, much against her will, with the rich and rakish 'Sir Francis Vavasonr. A few years before, Lauraine had plighted her troth to Keith Atheletone (the owner of the bad blue eyes); her late father's ward. Mrs. Douglas objected to the match on the ground of the young fellow's poverty ; on this, he went to America to seek his fortune, an enterprise in which he fully succeeded, for on' the very morning of her wedding-day Lauraine received a letter from her lover, saying that he had inherited from an American benefactor a large legacy, and was on his way home to claim her hand. But if she had acted wisely, and broken off the marriage, even at the last moment, "Rita" would have had no story to tell ; so Lauraine listens to the per- suasion of her mother, and is driven off to the fashionable church, "where her future husband awaits as sad and reluctant . a bride as ever the martyrdom of fashion and the exigencies of society have sacrificed to the god of Mammon." This sounds very fine and righteous, yet it is surely rather hard on society to impute to it the guilt of this marriage. So far as we can see, there is nobody to blame but Lauraine and her mother. However, as regards the younger lady, punishment follows quickly on the offence. When she returned from the church to her mother's
• Two Bad Bias Byss. By "Rita." 3 rots. London ; Tinsley Brothers.
house, Keith was already there, and they have a hurried inter- view (arranged by an old servant), in a small room at the back of the house. "His arms go out to clasp her as in the old sweet days that are gone for ever, and sobbing wildly, the girl falls upon his breast ;" and then, after some fierce reproaches on his part, and some weak excuses on hers, the bride of an hour tears herself from her lover and rejoins her husband. They meet again, of course, and have many more stolen interviews, indulge in much passionate talk, and until the third volume is reached Lady Vavasour's virtue is continally trembling in the balance. But Keith, despite his bad blue eyes, behaves very well, emulates most unexpectedly the example of Joseph, foils a dastardly attempt of Sir Francis (who falling in love with another woman, wants a divorce) to make him a co-respondent, and when the baronet opportunely dies, is rewarded for his forbearance and, constancy with Lauraine's hand, and all ends happily.
What strikes us most in this novel, and others of its class, is the idle and purposeless life supposed to be led by the actors in it, and their strange ideas (which are also the author's ideas) of what constitutes virtue and morality. So far as appears, none of the characters in Two Bad Blue Byes ever, did an honest day's work in all their lives. They are always either eating, drinking, dancing, flirting, yachting, or talking twaddle ; nor does it ever occur, either to Keith or Lauraine, that they might find in some serious occupation solace for their disappointment and a refuge from temptation. True, she came out of the ordeal unscathed, in the sense that she gave her husband (who, after a time, wanted to get rid of her) no ground to sue for a divorce ; but it is difficult to see what a woman could do much worse than marry one man, and a man she detests, while she loves another. It involved both falsehood and degradation, and the fact of Lauraine remaining technically pure, is no condonation of her original offence. We might be asked to pity her weakness, it is too much to expect us to applaud her virtue. On- the other hand, we freely admit that if the illicit loves of married people be a legitimate motive for fiction, " Rita " manages the subject with great dexterity. She handles her pitch so delicately as to make us fancy at times that it is pure gold, but it is pitch all the same, and cannot be touched without leaving a stain. If we must have stories whose sole topic from the first chapter to the last is love, for Heaven's sake let it be virtuous love; and "Rita" is quite capable of writing novels which shall be at once wholesome and interesting. But she may plead in extenuation that there is a demand for this sort of thing at the libraries ; and in literature, as in commerce, demand creates supply. Authors, like other folks, must please their patrons ; and the system of publishing tales in three volumes has the double disadvantage of rendering Mr. Mndie's and Mr. Smith's subscribers the supreme arbiters of the modern novel, and offering unusual facilities for the production of ephemeral fiction. It is this system that has created the society novel, and which enables everybody who can command fifty or sixty pounds to acquire such satisfaction as may perchance arise from the sense of being an author :—
"Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print ; A book's a book, although there's nothing in't."
The libraries are sure to take at least a few copies, even of a book by an unknown author, and there is always the off-chance of making a hit, the more especially as low morality is a far surer passport to the favour of fashionable readers than high quality. If, on the other hand, novels were published in the first instance at a low price, they would have to depend for success solely on their own merits, for to cover cost of production ten times as many copies would require to be sold as are now sold of an average three-volume novel. But in this, as in so many other matters, it is much easier to point out evils than to suggest remedies. The present system prevails for two or three very sufficient, if not very satisfactory, reasons. It snits both publishers and circulating libraries, and in spite of several decided drawbacks, it serves the turn of a good many authors. Nothing would be easier than to get up all novels in one volume. Few of them are as large as they look. This novel of "Rita's," for instance, contains only about 90,000 words, and if all the three volumes were rolled into one, they would not make a big book. The cost of production would, moreover, be less, but the selling price would be diminished by two-thirds, while the cost of advertising would remain the same. It is, of course, possible that the balance might be redressed by increased sales, but publishers do not believe they would, and they speak from knowledge. Publishers may be trusted to know their own business, and if they saw the slightest advantage in bringing out new novels in one volume, they would not hesitate to abandon the present antiquated and artificial system. The public, they say, will not buy new books, the libraries will ; and they must adopt that method of publication which beat suits the interest*
of their most trustworthy customers, for it is clearly not to the
of the libraries that the price of new books should be put so low as to tempt people to buy them. It is, nevertheless, quite possible that if the experiment were tried of bringing on a novel by a popular writer at a low price, say, four or five- shillings, the result might be a surprise to both publisher and author.
A publisher wrote a short time ago to the Daily News, cam. plaining bitterly of the over-production of novels, and giving an analysis of the campaign of 1883, from which it appears that, or 349 novels brought out in that year, two-thirds either made no profit or left a heavy loss. The writer omitted to state, however, that many of these novels had previously appeared interial publi- cations, and that it may suit an author's purpose to have his novel published as a library book, even though his pecuniary gain should be nil. He is brought before the public, reviewed, advertised, and possibly praised and read. The reputation thus acquired may enable him to obtain better terms for his next serial story, and, in the end, enable him to bring out his works in cheap editions with a fair hope of success. That the pro- duction of three-volume novels has well-nigh ceased to be a paying business, either for publishers or authors, is in part clue to excessive production, for which publishers alone are to blame ; in part, to a more permanent cause, the competition of London magazines and country newspapers, which, by means of the syndicate system, are enabled to provide fiction of good quality for the million. The appetite for this class of literature is rather increasing than diminishing, but it can be gratified more cheaply than by subscribing to a circulating library. By an Outlay of a penny a week on a local paper, you may reed two novels at the same time, all the news of the neighbourhood, an epitome of the news of the world, the pith of the comic-papers, clever original articles, and a great deal besides. Such papers as the Manchester Weekly Times, the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, and others that could' be named, are much more marvellous penny- worths than aught of the sort produced in London ; they never contain anything unsuitable for family reading, and they are creating all over England a taste for wholesome fiction. It used to be said that feuilletons could not be popularised in England ; but their success in weekly journals has proved the contrary, and may not improbably lead to their adoption by a certain class of dailies. Be that as it may, the demand for serial fiction is unquestionably on the increase, and it is in this direction that novelists must seek compensation for the decline of the three-volume novel. If they are wise, they will form themselves into an association similar to the French Society of Gene de Lettres, • and by dealing directly with newspaper proprietors, add to their earnings the very considerable profits at present gained by professional "purveyors of fiction."
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