New-York tribune., 1888-08-26
SOME NEW NOVELS.
RATHER Low-GRADE ORE .

IL,
12mo, pp 3s1. q. W. Dillingham;
BEwrTcHED BY LOUIS PENDLEToN 12mo. pp
2e5. Casscn & Co.
ODDS AGAINST HER. BY MARGARET RUSSELL
MACFARLANE. 12mo, PIP. 24e. Casseil q TO-
MADAME SILVA. BY NJ. c. MccLELLAND. 12mo
PIP. $50. cassell Co.
EROS. BY LAURA DAINTREY. 12mo' pp' 2oo
Belford, Clarke & Co.
HIS WAY AND HER WILL By A. x. 1smo,- PIP
1885, Belford, Clarke d Co
ROGER BERKELEYs PROBATION. BY HELEN
CAMPBELL 1omo, PIP. 1s3 Boston; Roberts
Brothers.
HAscmscH. BY THoRoLD KrNal iamo pp. s1s.
THE LAssEs OF LEVER HOUSE BY JESSIE
FoTHERGILL 1emo, PIP. eso. Henry Hot
THE FATAL THREE BY NJ. r. BRADDoN 12mo
DID, 1877 Harper & Brothers
THE STEEL HAMMER. BY LOUIS ULBAcH.
Translated from the French by E. W. Latincr
1smo pp. c31. d. Appleton 81 Co.
rop FIFTEEN YEARS Sequel to "The steel
Hammer BY LOUIS ULBACH. Translated
by f. W. Latimer. 12mo, PIP. 2se. D. Apple
ton & Co.
NAPOLEON SMITH. 1emo, pp. 2o2. The Judge
Publishing Company
Mr.. Flagg's novel has considerable meslo io Is
marked by decided originality and fresh' Vigor-
ous style In the preface-an unusual matter III
works of fiction-he takes the reader into ms coh
fdence so far as to explain that the most sor'Nins
characters and situations in the book are cop,eu
from real life In the case OF MISS Jerks .ii'
would naturally be assumed, for whlle very ic"
naonle can have encountered SO strange specimen
of womanhood, it may safely be asserted thai no.
body could have invented her. She is not tyPe'
but an exception, and a remarkably odd one Inc
aGrav EAGLE as her mountain neighbors call her,
isa curious and interesting study; beyond doupt
conventionally disreputable, but in no way vulgar
or COARSE the boldness and natural breadth OF her
views of life putting her quite apart from ORDINARY
ideas of improperly 1t may also be rememDereo
that the peculiar methods By which Miss ierNs
tested her wooers correspond closely with that
Scottish practice of handfasting' which obtained
until recent times in some parts OF the iahu
cakes, While the belligerent and patte-uis-
ciplincd Gray Eagle" is certainly the mos'
original and surprising of MIR. Flaggs drana'ls
personac there are several other clearly markeo
and individualized characters, ard enough acuioh
~ the most stirring kind to satisfy the most
exirent lover of sensationaEsm. The variety Oh
scpne is also unusual and the plot changes from
Nav -yor,, drawinrrooms to the widest of noun
tain life without showing strain or losing interest.
The authors style is vrile terse and often crsply
epigrammatic He has his people always well
in hand. and he wastes no space in relation noo
hearing Don the main action. AS to the ddacuc
p,rpose which is nowhere obtruded, 1T Is so pialn
that he who runs may read IT.
The title of the anonymous novel ASK her,
Man! Ask Herr" is unfortunate It Suggests
vulgar sensationalism and nothing more, ana III
so doing it wrongs a really fair piece OF work he
Wall Street man indeed has been decidedly over
done in recent Aemrican fiction, and whether the
i'm q
moral upon the vicissitudes Of the " street," or
merely TO excite interest in the picturesque ex-
travapance and recklessness Of the ideal stockgam
bler the result has been the same, namely, to tire
the public In this story there is wretched httle
cad of a millionaire's son. the description OF whose
caddishness leads the author perilously near lnde
corum more than once. 1t is no doubt reailsm'
but too much Of the Zolaesque order. For the
rest there are plenty of natural and lively people
in the book and the women are human ana
svmnatbetic. and the interest does not flag before
the end is reached If, an alleged. this is the
authors first essay in felton, he has no reason 10
be ashamed of his work, though there is plenty OF
room for Improvement if he intends to write more
novels
agewitcheds is weird and sombre story sup
nosed "a he related by very cranky young
man who finds it necessary to separate from his
Kind and take to the solitude OF the Florida coast
in order TO get his own consent to going on hvng.
In his half shooting-box, half hermitage, among
the woods he falls upon strange adventure, anu
finds himself called upon to rescue lovely nalu-
en- who has been kidnapped by wicked pseudo
Spaniard but real Niger" Strange as the taIe
is il has nothing half remarkable as the haste
with which the imprisoned maiden consents 10
marry her deliverer. Perhaps. however even
this would be more startling If the whole OF the
characters were less shadowy. But there is MOTH
ing real or natural about any OF them Nr'
Pendleton has failed to do more than block them
out they take no hold upon the reader, produce
no illusion of reality, rouse no more interest
than attaches to a clever marionette performance.
In short Bewitchedn is rather thin and poor
Miss Macfarlane in setting the scene Of her
story in Germany has, we are afraid, contrlVed 10
array the odds against her. novel, for American
readers can hardly be expected to take deep
and abiding interest in the doings OF Prusslan
mobiles and their family connections 1t is true
that auasi-American girl of an 1rrepressible type
is 'introduced-a young lady who insures that
variety which is said to be the spice OF life by
alternately teaching country school and shoot
ing eagles in the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the law
moreover But this remarkable young woman
is after all Won Arnim by one remove, and can
not be regarded as adequately representing the
stars and stripes on the feudal estates of her
naughty kindred The novel is quite cosmopoli-
tan. The villain is beautiful Russian woman,
and it may here be noted that the frequency with
which dramatists and writer's of fiction select the
Cars female subjects as examples Of iniqujty
in all kinds is anything but fiattering to Musco-
vite national feeling and perhaps hardly warrant
cd bv statistics. Miss Macfar,ane's naughty
Russian is not good specimen of her class either,
for she collapses just at the moment when, II she
had kept cool head and played her cards well,
the game must have been in her hands. One
feels that the author has somewhat unfairly killed
her of in order to award the battle to Prasseda,
srho thnnch not an Obj ,cti0nable girl. is plainy