New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-09-14
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
NOVELS AND NoNDEsCRpTs.

i, x,NpopT 1emc. Pr. 4e4 Lockwood, srooks Co.
Q. UNTIL TIE DAY BREAK; Iy Mr.. J; NJ. ID. BART
IErr l2mo. III 373 Porter Coates.
Q THE JOHNSON MAJOR. BY JAMES KENT l6mo.
NJ. S0A q. p. PntnsnisSnss'
A TukT HUsBAND or MINE. I6mo PIP. 227. Lee
o. HIS GRANDNoTHERs, 16mo. Pr. w. o. ru'-
MANS sens.
If the phenomena Of American Fction-or what
goes by that name-during the past year we're iu'-
potant enough 10 engage The attention Of some lu-
fare historian Of our literature, he might be puzzcu
how TO explain them. The aattering prominence oi
n name on the tit,c-page is fast being discarded ior
the mysterious anonymous; but this is mainly que
10 the clever business cXpedient OF one pnbhShihg
finn. which Others have not been slow 60 initiate.
Nevertheless seeing that nine-tenths OF the writers
are evidently women and many Of them OF that
class which cannot distinguish between notoriety
and genuine achievement in letters, the fact still
remains sufficiently curious. Some, possibly, may
he uromptod BIZ desire il.c that Of Sake Holm, Tor
instance 80 throw ont two anchors against the oo"-
tide Of oblivion or TO earn double measure oil TAN
Chile returns In other cases. there Is the prolonged
delight Of beng talked about and guessed at win
the power Of letting the withheld name staIte t"e
public AT any moment. There must be some gen
nine satisfaction about this device, as u Is 80
frequently praotiscd. We take 1t Tor gian'eu'
therefore that all the nameless fair ones VIII be
what they lose in romantic mystery-ohy they
should not too long postpone the time OF disclosure
Cor the stage is rapidly becoming crowded, and too
many masks removed at once may spoil the sur
nriso The change in the character OF heuon' OF
what passes for such, is not so easily to be accounted
for IL points towards a sudden alteration OF tas'e
on the PAR. of a somewhat whimsical public posi-
bly resulting from that Decline of the Drama
which Mr. Boucicault, modestly overlooking MS
own share in the matter, ascnbes TO the newspaper
press Or since this change Of taste hfS' becomes
apparent on railroad trains fostered by the same
boy who burdens passengers laps with candies IN
packages ETC., may it not have some physical con-
nection with the consumption Of those popu'a.
delicaciesl The bran-fbre resulting from a dlet Oh
candy peaputs old bananas, and vegetable IVORY
may have cTaved, and now for the first time 1ouhu'
its fitting intellectual pabuum. This Is quesllo"
which we commend to the attention OF DE- weir
Mitchell 1t is. perhaps, hardly tie part OF "a re-
viewer to subject individual writers to the test OF
scientific generalization; but in no other way can
we explsin the existence of works which, IL peTma-
nently successful, would overthrow every accep'eu
canon Of criticism. We are assured of Their popu-
laritv. and the secret of that fact must be 1ouhu
sOmGckTo
Nimportv has a far claim to the title OF a
novel The name means nothing except Boston, and
was probably meant to arouse local interest. In
stead of an individual. family is the hero-or
heroine-and the members being separated we nave
two OF three stories at once not very successfully
woven together. The author has set out with de-
Termination TO be brilliant, and endows the charac-
tiers so impartiayi this respect that 1t would oeh
be difficult TO tell which is which, but Tor the names
afxed The construction of the story reminds us OF
puzzle, all the parts of which have not yet oeeh
successfully put together. The material is there
r. :. oil Of If luQped to exc out the
readers interest or TO gain time for the next deve!-
onmept but much OF it in crude state. The chaT-
ac+ers sometimes issue into tolerable reality then
grow weak and shadowy just when we need to see
them more distinctly The author, however is well
eonpped for work of the kind, and might have
avoided without exorbitant labor, the chief faults
of the story. The style would be bright and agree
able throughout but for an occasional monotony OF
tome which we cannot quite call dulness One sees
that the personages are imaginary, not studied from
life and therefore not suggesting life 80 much as
the active but rather undisciplined fancy OF the
author.
-"ITntil the Day Break" is one of those fashy
titles which ought to he suppressed by law II seems
TO be initiated from that Of very useful and practi-
cal little volume called Until the Doctor Comes"
The story, we need hardly say is not one OF those
which keep Us awake and interested until the Gay
breaks it should rather be called, when You Have
Nothing Better to Do" We mean thereby to ind-
cate that the book belongs On all except its title
to the od-fashioned, conventional class OF novels
with one cherished heroine, several lovers and
proper alienation of sunshine and gloom, all end
ing in burs. of happiness 1t is plainly and hon
estly written in the conventional way with some
what mors emotional description that is required and
conversations probable than dramatic yet quite
without the intrusion of that morbid element which
is later fashion. II is easy TO that the author
has enioyed the composition of her story, and she
has not attempted to give it qualities foreign to her
own native taste. We perceive, in the first chapter
that Miss Laura Gordon is her favorite and will he
SET before us with loving tenderness while Miss
Annie Phillips in the fourth is inevitably destined
to be coarse and false, by way of contrast. There
are no subtle problems to be solved in this class of
fiction; the characters are distinctly labelled with
their qualities and cannot choose but act accord
ingly Such books therefore, have practical value
as remedial agents for nervous and over-driyen
race. They are sure to prevent or dispel thought.
1.-THE johnson Manor is. properly a series of
historical pictures, in the form of a novel Mr. Kent,
in his preface intimaes that the story has basis of
family history and is derived, in part, from the rec
objections of an older relative Both the field of ac
ton and the characters introduced. are sufficiently
picturesque without any aid from the imagination.
Tie Valley of the Mohawk. the Johnson Manor,
Brandt Van Tassel aud other known actors in a
stormy time present groups and settings which will
ALWAYS retain genuine dramatic effect. The inter
est of the story lies far more therein than in the
love episode of young johnson and Miss Latimer
and we think that Mr. Kent might have given
larger portion of serious history without any risk of
wearying his readers. The time described is the be-