FICTION.
A 'CONTRAST IN FJ.RST ,NOVELS.*
To read these two slim volumes, one directly after the- other,! is to enjoy a study in oontrest, made ;piquant .13y a certain: similarity in the circumstances of the authors. 330th:books are. list books, and there is this other-point of likeness that, quite; frankly, the _stories are much more interesting because of the- respective ancestry-and parentage of the authors than for their own intrinsic merits—and in. the ease of Princess Bibesco, 'the. fact that she has lived her short life entirely in the eyes of the public has made the 'world well aware that she is possessed of considerable brain-power. This knowledge makes us open her first hook of stories with every disposition to be pleased by them.
In A Vagrant Tune we have to go back to Mr. Holland's grandmother for the source of our interest. It is impossible for the true lover of Victorian novels not to anticipate pleasure from a first -book by the grandson of Mrs. Gaskell. It must be owned that, with the appropriate change of date, Mr. Holland's talent has a certain savour of imitativeness. The-book cannot quite be said to 'be -like Cranford, but the circumstance of its being the story- of a spinster lady living quietly in the country inevitably brings -to the mind Mrs. Gaskell's still 'fresh and delightful study of the same subject. Readers who take Princess Bibe.sco's very frank studies of sex as typical of the twentieth century will perhaps be 'reassured by Mr. Holland's book,: which ignores all such problems as completely as though it had been written sixty years ago. Princess BibeecOs "bedroom scenes" are astounding in their indiscretion,-and almost every: story in the book is a study of one or other, phase of matrimonial difficulties and false steps. Mr. Holland is not greatly concerned with matrimony. He gets -no further -than two engagements— one Of the gentleman who in this -story takes -what in theatrical language would be called the juvenile lead," and the other' that of the elderly heroine ; this, 'however, does not occur till the last page.
A Vagrant Tassels entirely concerned with the life of an old maid in a village. The author displays 'a considerable-sense of humour, especially in -the -scene where 'Miss Lavender, the' heroine, -goes -out motoring. -Her servant, 'Euphemia, -on her being late for tea, makes up' her mind that an accident has happened and rushes into-the village, where she gathers the whole of the inhabitants together-and starts to conduct-a rescue either at the hospital or the mortuary. Miss Lavender, earning hack, sees a !lot of people hurrying forward with Euphemia at their head and comes to the instant conclusion that her house, is on fire. The scene of the misunderstanding-is amusingly given :— "The car stepped just in front of the little group, and Euphemia, detaching herself from it, ran forward with aa. hysterical sob.
Thank God you've got back,' she said.
Have you-sent for the fire-engine -? ' Miss Lavender inquired anxiously.
Euphenaia stared stupidly. 'The what:? ' she asked.
The fire-engine,' repeated Miss -Lavender with feverish 'haste.
Don't tell me you've done absolutely nothing. How did it happen ? When did it begin ? Oh, for goodness' sake,' Euphemia, don't stand there with your mouth open saying nothing. Can't anybody speak ? ' " To oompare this with Princess Bibesco's elaborate sex subtleties,- we may take a paragraph from the little study called " To- morrow " in -which she gives a very alever analysis of the rest- lessness of two lovers whose meetings, it is implied, -are strictly surreptitious :— " This was the moment she must enjoy. These minutes before he arrived, when their glorious happy hour together—, usually so unhappy-when it came—was still to come. •Once he is there she can hear nothing but the clock ticking the beats of her heart, tolling the knell of each minute. The past will seem to be capturing the present at an overwhelming rate. She can never enjoy being with him for the knowledge that they will so soon be separated, and what is worse, separate, walking down different streets, talking to different people, thinking different thoughts."
A -dozen other instances—although it must be confessed that some of them are unquotable—of different aspects of passion. might beiluoted from this book (t) EHave Chily Illgselfto Blame. By BizabethHibeseo. 'Monde& : Heine- mann. 178. 65. net.]—(2) A Vagrant nine. 'By-Uryan.T.,Hollawi. London: Constable. [7s. 6d. net.] The latterhall of Mr. rHollansile book unfortunately degenerates into- sheer crude sentiments/hey, and it is difficult to -read with patience the ;account 'of ,Euphemia,"s illness and death. In contrastto- this it is almest needless to -say-that:Princess Bibaseo is mover sentiraental. The . fourteenth story in her -book, called "The -Pilgrimage," is in some ways 'the most able. it is the . story of arson who makes up his 'mind-to :find out -his lather's :real love-story, convinced as he is that, notwithstanding .his mother's -beauty, -she is :far 'too uninteresting .8. person to have stirred a man Of such gifts wills father to real emotion. It will be seen that the author is entirely-modern in approving the calm :analysis by -a child of -its parents. The story of the son's dis- covery of 'Madeleine and of the tragedy which environs her is !excellently given, -though the reader, wh.o had hoped that the . passage of years will mean his or her escape from the devastating .passions hinted at by Princess Bibesco, will be alarmed by Madeleine's opinion of middle-age :— "'Middle age is the period of love,' she said a little -sadly. 'It comes over you like a fever. It is made a necessity by your doubts, by all the little guarantees that you have lost.'" Whether we must consider Mr. Holland's type of book a throw- back, or whether, on the contrary, Princess Bibesco is enlarging on a theme which has already become old-fashioned must be left 'to the discretion of the reader. -It may be that, satiated with eroticism, the world will turn in violent reaction to the enjoyment Of crude humour and wallow in washy sentimentality. On-the other hand, Mr. Holland's book may be merely a reversion tothe tastes of the last century—for it was not every author of that daywho possessed Mrs. Ga.skell's delicate wit and delightful sense of -irony. But if Princess Bibesco is not harping on a too familiar theme what will become of the art of 'fiction? No development is possible from these stories. They are indiscreet up to and 'beyond the limit allowed by the conventions even of this indulgent age. Let us hope that both these authors will reconsider their methods, that Princess Bibesco will learn the meaning Of the aphorism that the art of fiction "is more beholden to-love than life," and that Mr. Holland's next storywill not be so slight in outline. Before publishing again he should improve his characterization and use his promising gift of -humour to illuminate a canvas prepared with more cars and greater artifice.
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