New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-14
NEW NOVELS.

VOTING MAIDS AND OLD. Ry Clara Louise Burhh"n''
iamo, PIP. 4o4. Boston Iichnor o.
FROM MOOR ISLES by Jessie ISLE, Lo'ners'''' io'"0'
ayorrc Maids and Old- is a novel of American
Nt. dealing mainly with the tolerably welLworn
.homo Of the futlity Of attempts by parents ana
Guardians to choose mates for young people Two
old maids figure in the story They are dlher
ant enough in character, but alike III their run
damental sound hcartedness, and II might alihos'
no thought that the author had taken orel TOT
.he defence of a much maiened class. iherc
are also two young maids, one heroic al" pi'-
ternaturaly innocent girl, considering 'h"O sn'
had lived all her life in hotels and boarding houses
the other q pert and tpnnt young person LYNN
Chicago, who enters upon the scene equPP'" az
all points with the least attractive haOi's "n"
views commonly ascribed TO the people Is HUI
habitat but who undergoes a process OF reioin"
zion at tho hands of a Massachusetts young man
which changes her altogether for the better Phin
cas- Thorne belongs Il that type oil New-Ehs
lander the conventionalisms OF which are more
l.orarv than real These extremely seii-con-
faned reticent yet profound young men are "uch
more frequently encountered IN the pages oil movers
than anywhere else. Girls who resemble Susan
Farley are we regret TO say, more common. ana
the worst OF them is that they seldom emulate
Polly Thorne is a Wholesome natural and quito
1ovablc little woman, who perhaps is not 70 be
blamed for failing to see that her irreproachable
b,other comes perilously near being priS. Miss
Trov,,r,dre the rich cid maid who IS the prncl-
nal continuous resident OF Proctor Is good study
carefully elaborated and thoroughly fresh ahG
wonanly, even in her fobes, Which are WIN d
single exception, slight enough. Irene flahdefs'
the a.. nue., would be a nice and even charming
GIRL if she were just little less unSophlstlc"'eu'
As il is she is interesting and like the rest OF Inc
company well up to the requirements OF the situa-
ton. which are not too eyigent. There are great
many pages in the novel, and this is its most
serious defect. There are really so few stories
VIII ,fv the employment of four hundred and
odd pages IN telling them AT least, however,
this is a wholesome and pleasant tale
Jessie Fothergll has followed very poor story
with an exceptionally good one. The LaSseS OF
Levcrhouse7 was fat and drcary and polniless.
From Moor Isles is full OF many kinds oil
mower that il is difficult to believe the same author
wrote the two novels. From Moor Isles is
not an international novel; though the scene Is
laid partly in Ell gland and partly in this country
The author, however, mi CHI as well have put her
characters in Tibet as in Baltimore, for all the
local knowledge she exhibits her few references
IN American mar nerS and customs betraylnS the
most distant acquaintance with the subject.
There ate some iuimcal people professionalism
the book who give an agreeable view of a class
more widely known for their difficulty in getting
on together than for the constancy and devoted
ness of their friendships. There is also highly
interesting amicable contest between pretty
ward and a guardian who has fallen in love with
her but is stcrnly resolved to sacrifice and eiace
himself, being wholly without suspicion that She
had anticipated HIM in her attachment and con-
seqnently is made wrctched by the measures which
he thinks necessary for her happiness touching
and sweet figure is that OF Alice Omerod, the
ideal Lancashire farmers daughter, who loves
man neither conscious of her all cction nor able TO
return it, Poor Alice is the strongest character
in the book, and she Is doomed TO perpetual
maldenhood" for her loving kindness and self
sacrlnce-a kind Of scttl ment far too clearly re-
sembng real life to be acceptable in novel The
average novel reader does not want strict adj
herence TO truth Oh the contrary, he wants some
thing to help him believe in the possibility OF
more cheerful and equabc corditicns than he
usually has dealt out tn him. Once III a way, and
when great mister like Balzac Is at hand 20
manipulate the camera. Photographic reproductions
of the human comedy are acceptable. The small
fry Of fiction, however, are safest in that reg on
OF romance whose gay and shifting colOrs aid
their mex peIence and fcebeneSS OF touch by con-
cealing the bad likenesses and giving an atmos-
phere Of illusion 20 the whole picture.