New-York tribune., 1889-10-20
NEW NOVELS.
AMERICAN. ENGLISH AND FRENCH:


AMERICAN. ENGLISH AND FRENCH.
CHITA. Memory of Last Island Iy Lafcad'o
Hearn Emo PIP. 2o3. Harper Brothers.
DIANA WENTWORTH. By Caroline FothFgn'
l2mo pp. 251 Harper & Brothers
A HARDY NORsEMAN. BY Edna Lyali. l2mo' PIP
3G5 d. Appleton d Co.
FEET OF CLAY. BY Amelia e. Barr 12mo. PIP.
500. Dodd Mead 4 Co.
IN THE TIME OF THE CHERRY VIEWING. An
Episode In Japan BY Margaret Fe~4o A0no' PP' i''
G. 2. Putnam's Sons.
HENRIETTE. Par Francois ,Coppee; PsrS' Al
phonse Lemcrre. New-Hork W. H. Jenhins
Mr. Hearn is a poet and in Cha' he has produced
a prose poem of much beauty. The incident en-
ployed as his move-the whelming OF Last Island IN
high tide and strong gale when rhe summer residents,
nnsuspcious of danger dancing gayly IN the BAH
room of the great hoel-afordcd just the material Tor
his vivid imagination to build upon, and out OF the
story and the tragedy of the island he has wrought
series of pictures of striking mpressvenes' Inc de
scrlption Of the coming up Of the Storm whch cul-
minated 50 dsastrously is masterpiece and the scene
Of the follow morning. when all the wreckers OF the
reeion are seen sailing swiftly TO a common centre In
every conceivable kind of craft, TO gather the spoh OF
the night and 10 plumber the dead OF Last Isiahu7
dwells IN the memory with some OF Victor Hugos
werdest marine tableaus There Is indeed distinctly
uugoesque flavor I'm the dominant idea of the sea AZ
MYSTERIOUS semicOnscious creature, working 70 SET
ends enyeloped in occult influences, and exercising
fatalstc attractions upon certain persons destined 10
live or die by and through It. on the other hanh MT
Hearn's studies of the creole character highly coioeu
sketches Of Southern coast scenery, and his ree ana
felicous use of the country patos are all entirely mis-
own His style IS tropical. full Of glow and swift
movement and vivid impressions, rejecting strong
love and keen sympathetic observation OF nature.
picturesque and flexible, uxuriant in imagery and
marked by delicate perception Of effective values.
"Chita7 Is his best performance thus far and II is very
good but he has grown fast and he will excel his
record presently. unless we are much mistaken.
"Dlana Wentworth" IS the story Of young lady Of
unconventional force Of character, who Insists upon
going her own way I'm the world and thereby stumbes
into many difficulties. OF these the most serious
from the point Of view taken by her friends-is the
forming Of friendship with a selfmade man of great
abilities and noble character but who happens to be
Of low birth Diana vndicates her independence by
renouncing her family. who are generally bad lot
and very properly marrieS the man against whom
they were all banded. The novel IS well written and
interesting and next 10 Diana herself the best study
in It is that of ude her cousin, who. with every
wish 10 do right IS the complete thral OF her famy's
antiquated, selfish and exclusive system.
Miss Edna Lyall In A Hardy Norssmsn" has written
! The adventures Of young Norwegian, cast by mis-
fortune upon the English shore, and forced to earn
his living in London. In truth he does not prove
very hardy for he IS moro than once within
Of suicide and he fres himself into brain fcver
the petty ndgnitIes incidental to the situation Of
clerk in a shop. He has set himself with Quixotsm
which does not invite the strongest sympathy, TO pay
Of the debts Of his bankrupt father and IS week
such an enterprise apt to be prolonged. The
Norseman has been cruelty jllted by English GIRL
but considering that he had known her ony a few
weeks he takes this blow 10 heart amazingly and
brOods IL good deal too much In fact, he
appears, from one cause and another TO be morose
and disagreeable young through than half of
the story and he only In time to remove
the unpleasant impression he has made. Sigrid his
sister, IS much more attractive. The book has power
but it drags here and there, and the general effect
Is not lively.
Mrs Barr's new novel is placed on the Isle Of Man.
and contains much evidence OF close and careful study
OF the peculiar sociology of that intensely conserva-
tive and Isolated community. Bella Clusar and her
father. mother and brother fresh and striking
personalities, revealing quite new types and thero
Is something very attractive in their pride OF ancestry
their noble independence, ard their quaint yet ex.
pressve dialect. II Mrs. Barr has here given the
true Manx speech, It must be said that Mr. Barring
Gould and Others who. since Sir Walter Scott have
made the Isle Of Man the Of fiction are curosy
wrong in their representations but upon so difficult
a question we offer no opinion ourselves The
hero Of eject OF Clay is young scamp who twice
commits forgery with mpunity, tries his best TO Sc
duce poor girl basely betrays every trust reposed
in him. and finally permits his best friend m assurne
his crminany and TO be sentenced to hard labor for
seven years in convict prison. This best friend
is really the promising youths father in dis
auiae This sefsacrifclng fathers story is tolcb
ing one and he himself kind OF Jean Valiean Rrt
# is quite impossible TO evolve any sympathy or lining
for George Pennington, whose selfshnesS is manifes
too ingraned to be uprooted by any Influences and
whose regeneration Is consequently unthnkable and
as a SEQUEL TO what has gone before, most lnarstic
M man with such character and antecedents could
doing and II Kitty married such an one she would
be toerably certain 70 have bad time.
"In the Time Of the Cherry Viewing, is a nrottv
LITTLE international" episode I'm which Japan
the background and two Americans the princi,,l
actors The thread Of story serves TO attach sumo
graceful sketches Of japanese exemas. They show
NO real knowledge of the people Of the Mkado,s ar,
nire but some familiarity with japanese shOv.nlac,s
The love story which forms the motive Of the uttle
book is enivencd by game of mild crosspurposss
which would be stIn more amusing did It not imnIv
in the heroine a snobbshness Of soul marked az n
be almost irritating. One Is tempted 10 wish Thar
after having lly committed herself she hah dscovs~c
that her lover really the "horr1ds Commercial
traveller for whom she had first taken him
/ NJ Coppee's THenriette" is pretty ana fender
story of unhappy love. An only son. brought nm
with Jealous care by a widowed mother who idolIzes
him. becomes enamorod OF poor girl employed A, a
seamstress in his mothers house The girl returns hi,
affection and they grow into passionate attachment
The widow al length discovers what Is golng on and IS
furio,sly jealous An estrancement between her and
element is Gu b. the de- IN OF the young msl Or m
typhoid fever. The girl henHete IS heart brukrn a.
her loss, and within the year follows her lover the
grave. The tale Is told with grace and spirit