Better Times: Stories. By the Author of "The Story of
Margaret Kent." (Triibner and Co.)—The stories of which this volume is composed have been collected from various American magazines of good repute, and this fact is in their favour ; for, as a rule, the American short story is far ahead of its English rival. The latter is apt to be a mere pot-boiler, the former is often a real work of art ; and the author of these nine tales is certainly an artist, not a commonplace boiler of the pot. It is not easy to imagine anything better in its way than "The Story of a Silk Dress," in which the simple incident of the loss of a most commonplace garment by a most commonplace person serves as a motive for a really charming comedy. Another capital story of the lighter kind is "One too Many," which records the comical per- plexities of a young man who is in love with two young women at the same time ; but perhaps the strongest work of the author is to be found in some of the more serious tales. "The Tragedy of Dale Farm" is very powerful, and the first story which gives the book its title is still more so, though its most striking incident —the temptation of Rachel to let her husband drink the brandy which she knows will kill him—reminds us rather too strongly of a memorable chapter in " Middlemarch."
Previous page
