New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-01-29
"OUEEN MONEY!"
A CAPITAL NOVEL.
QUEEN MONEY. BY tho Author of Tho story Of
Margaret Kent 12mo, PIP. 513. Boston: Tick
IN

Queen Money Is story OF Newly ork ne: OF
fashion and speculation of Fifth Avenue and Wall
Street story which deals boldly and well with the
leading tendencies OF modern society; the lust Of
riches the passion for social distinction the hard
ening and lowering and disinte grating influences
which control the chief currents OF metropolitan
activity 1t is fri Of clearly conceived and Wig
orously executed character studies and every one
of them is fully vitalizcd, natural and true Clay
ton White the distinguished critic, and his wife
Aria who exp nds herself with positive devotion
upon the small ambitions Of society leadership;
Barry Charnoclx the lawyer, who cannot rest con-
tented with the slow progress Of professional adj
vanccment and so goes into Wall Street and be-
comes more miserable than ever; the Florians,
Lucy and her father and Cousin PoOrc Kendall,
the rising fnancicr, who comes to grief SO terri
bly,; Colonel Carver, the Pacific coast millionaire,
with his bluff. hearty manner and his ways that
arc dark and tricks that are VAIN; Fanny Brock
way, the incorrigible but fascinating little drt;
Otto, the bright young fellow with healthy
mind who goes into Wall Street and escapes with
the loss Of his fortune; these and many other fig
ures equally distinct and lfckc throng the stage
and play their parts with admirable naturalness,
nerve and dash.
There is no more crucial test Of the powers Of
a novelist than conversation. Many writers who
succeed in description fail utterly in dialogue
But the author of Queen Money" makes her peo-
pie talk charmingly: so well indeed that hyper
criticism might accuse her Of inventing a brilli-
ancy conspicuous by its absence In
real life. The writer's tact fails just
once, and that is in the exciting final scene
between Otto and Kendall, when the young man
discovers that his partner has made preparations
to abscond with all the funds of his dcpositors.
10. -.aIr. 10 i'm, toll tnn
much. No man at such crisis of his career
would make long speeches. The dialogue would
be compressed, nervous, sharp, expressing the
strongest feelings in the most compact way. IL
is true that the drama has established a precedent
for the method employed here but IN the drama
there must be a certain cXaggcrationor the action
will fall below the standard Of reality, while in
fiction the same necessity for expansion does not
exist. But this is slight error and does not
detract from the effect Of the novel as a whole,
or from the excellence Of the separate character
izatonS
Lucy Floran is a delightful creation noble,
pure high-mindod girl, and her relations with
ChaInoclS are most sSilfuly and delicatcly
handled Charnocll himself is essentially
selfish man, whose passion for Lucy is evidently
ana Notwithstanding his persistence, something
different from true love rather the outcomeof that
peculiar variety Of egotsm which is ministcrcd to-
by reflection, in the POPULAR admiration for the
cgots,'s beautiful wife. He wishes TO marry
Lucy because he can be proud Of her. because she
will advance his position IN society; and the PROOF
that his love is not genuine is afforded 10y his ac-
ton when the crash in Wall Street has swept
away his prospects Of speedy wealth. Neverthe-
less Lucy has a narrow escape from him. and her
chief danger lies in her own high principles and
tender conscience.
There is much humor in the account of the din
ner of authors, though possibly the Authors Club
NAV not be unanimous on the fidelity of the repre-
sentaton Whether any Of the literary people
so freely introduced are portraits is question
likely to be more or less discussed, though as
usual in such cases without much profit Clay
ton White indeed may be regarded as an idcalizcd
critic: a suggestion OF ought to be rather than a
CONSUMPTION NJ what is The omniscient and
universal litteratcur who turns his attention IN
differently ard alternately TO literature music
art and the drama, and lays down the law i'll every
field is rather too bold CONCEPTION TO be regarded
as realistic To make him not only all this but
over and above a man Of fashion. Is indeed what
might be termed "strOng order" But since
the freeing Of the authors Imagination certainly
adds in this case to the livcliness OF the picture
and since Clayton White is really " very mag
nifcent thrce-tailed Bashaw' in his way the crit
les who after all are mostly concerned, ought not
TO find fault with the conception.
The book contains several specially excellent
episodes, such as the dinner Of authors already
spoken Of the Vandewater ball, the o'clock tea
at ARIA Whites and the dinner OF the million
aires. The last is very amusing and plquant
with a subacid flavor of irony. Nothing could
be better of its kind than the afterdinner discus
sion of millon-making; unless it be the droll ex-
pansivcness and ephemeral generosity developed
in the breasts Of the banquetcrs by the good wine
they have drunk here are also some photo
graphic sketches of Wall Street during periods
of excitement which show keen observation and
an eye for the picturesque No picture of the
Stock Exchange during business hours is given and
yet there is no gathering Of men anywhere which,
in periods Of danger furry panic, offers such OPP
portuntics to the artist who wishes TO study hu-
man nature stripped OF conventional DISCUSSES.
At such times all the passions that convulse the
heart of man may be read broadly on the faces OF
hundreds. Greed, despair, hope, terror, cunning
CONSERVATION, frenzy in all its Protean forms, are
exhibited without effort at concealment. A
careful study of Wall Street during panic, by a
capable observer, would lie profoundly impressive.
ana we venture 10 believe that the author OF Queen
Money" could do this we'll
A beautifully suggestive and pathetic episode
is the death of little Ethel misfortune which,
as is shown clearly from the first, is nevertheless
Il blessing In disguise, since il brings together
again the husband and wife who under the sinis-
ter influences of fashionable life had been
drifting further apart and were almost on the
verge of domestic wreck. Some modern novelists
appear so afraid of being suspected Of pcrpet ating
a moral that they 20 10 the opposite extreme and
present an immoral The author Of Queen
Money gives tone to her work b. making tie whole
story illustrate tie emptiness ana InsufIciency Of
III, prevailing nudes OF life. No recourse il had
70 eXaggeration or caricature In carrying out this
purpose, however. The representatives OF the va
rious cults-as Of money and iashOn-are good
enough people 10 be accepted as favorable types.
But they are "subdued u what they work in, like
the Overs hand, and the more contented they are
in the performance OF then several roles the more
poor and paltry DO those roles appear. The gen.
eral impression is wholesome and oracing. there