Mr. Opp. By Alice Hegan Rice. (Hodder and Stoughton. Os.)
—Although the hero of this book cannot claim to be an abso- lutely original figure, the creation of his character is a notable piece of work. Mr. Opp has points of . family resemblance to Mr. Wells's delightful linen-draper, Mr. Hoopdriver, who, in the early days of cycling, enlivened the world by his great bicycle tour along the South Coast. As becomes a figure drawn by Mrs. Alice Hegan Rice, Mr. Opp has his origin on the other side of the Atlantic, and perhaps an interesting illustration of the likenesses and differences between America and England might be drawn by a comparison between this portrait and that of the chivalrous Hoopdriver. Both men live in their dreams, but the American dream is more vivid and developed with spasms of more feverish energy than the English. Again, both Mr. Opp and Mr. Hoop- driver find and cherish their ideal woman ; but Mr. Hoopdriver never thinks for a moment of aspiring to her hand, while Mr. Opp actually persuades his lady-love to become engaged to him. The circumstances in which Mr. Hoopdriver lived were not so varied and exciting as those of Mr. Opp, and it never would have occurred to the British hero to start that delightful weekly journal the Opp Eagle. Since the magnificent writing repotted for us by Dickens in " Martin Chuzzlewit," nothing has been composed in so grandiloquent a style as Mr. Opp's first editorial. "The great bird 'of' 'Ainerican liberty has soared and flown over the country and lighted at last in your midst. The Opp Eagle appears for the first time to-day." This is his exordium, and it need only be said that the article proceeds crescendo. The pictures of Mr. Opp and his unhappy sister " Rippy," who in spite of being grown-up keeps the mind and heart of a little child, are drawn with such poignancy as to be almost intolerable to the reader. But the pathos is never allowed to turn into sentimentality, and every touch is cleverly used for the development of the character of the hero. For Mr. Opp is more than the hero of a novel : he comes very near to being truly heroic. The whole book, indeed, is exceedingly attractive, and fully sustains the reputation of its author.
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