Maude Whitefoord ; or, the Turn of the Tide. 3
vols. (Tinsley Brothers.)—It is well that it should be generally understood by novel writers—novel-readers know it only too well—that it is quite as easy to write a dull story about life on the Continent or life in Australia, as it is about life in England. There may have been a certain attraction of novelty when we read for the first time about sheep-runs as big as an English county, kangaroos, blacks, and so on ; but the scenery is now familiar, and we demand that the characters should be something like life, the dialogue have something solid or sparkling about it, or the incidents, at least, possess something of interest. We cannot see any of these merits in Maude Whitefoord, in which the people are about
as tedious as it is possible to be. As for the style, let this specimen suffice
:- "Melancholy and mournful as was iu general the expression of Mrs. Jones's face, it was one of the most beautiful that could be seen, oven in a land that can compare, and without disadvantage, with any country I number de the of its r h e sinn in the matter of female loveliness, despite the limited population, which of course narrows the choice."
And this, which is taken from the next page :— " Now, though frequent recurrence of the malady known as delirium tremens in the case of Mr. Wyld rendered the presence of that gentle- man on the station positively detrimental to its prosperity, while the contemplation of his partner's eccentricities, together with the anxiety produced by their somewhat complicated financial position, so oppressed the temper and spirits of the junior partner, that he at length not only lost heart, but also began to imitate Mr. Wyltrs pernicious example, still the intrinsic excellence of the station, aided by the energy and increasing experience of Edward Ward, would have pulled them through, despite the neglect of the proprietor."
The only gleam of promise that wo have found in the book is the passage in which Wyld, the ruined, drunken settler, recalls the hopes with which ho had landed in the colony.
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