The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-12-14
NEW BOOKS.

PAGAN OF THE ALLEGHANIEs. By Marah Ellis
Ryan. Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co. For
sale by W. H. Humphrey & Co.
Every new work of this powerful authoress,
Marah Ellis Ryan, adds to her fame.
Her mastery of character is more like
that OF man than of woman.
ga Pagan of the Alleghanies" opens with
a poem in prose, in which the writer's
command of language and fund of imagery are
colspicuously displayed, but before the
END of the second chapter the author
is entirely lost in the story. Not
for moment does the reader feel the writer's
presence, but Is uncousciously absorbed in
profound interest In the living people,
who talk and act from perfectly rational
motives and retain their individuality under all
conditions. Names are unnecessary; one recog-
nizes their voices and their figures, and although
the dramatic climax ID Startlingly impressive,
1t comes about in . perfectly unconstrained
way Most of the characters live in the remote,
out-of-the-world corner Lgonier valley, yet 1t
is the best proof OF the authors skill
that the incidents of isolated community
should be so cleverly woven into romance OF
adventure passion and pathoa
The SWAN OF vILAMoRTA. By Emilia Pardo
Bazan, author of "A Wedding Trip" "a
Christian Woman" NORMA" etc New
York: Cassel Publishing Company. For sale
by Lowlnan d Han!ord.
ne SWAN Oh NiIdmOrt4 IL the story OF q
poets ambition with prosaic termination. 1t
ID written with . quiet humor that is very re-
freshing. The translation Is by Mary j. Serrano,
who won much renown by her Interpretation of
Marie Bashkirtseffs journal, and she has
evidently performed her task with most inteli.
gent fidelity, as the expressions OF the author,
while free from pedantic reproduction of the
Spanish idiom, are very characteristic.
The life OF the poet among his
sordid and commonplace surroundings
Is half pathetic, half humorous, and his
experiences Of a city are related just al
they would appear to the village lad suddenly
transported to entirely novel but actually
very worldly scenes.
THAT'S. By Anatole France Translated BY
A. d. Hall Chicago Nile c. Smith Publish
ing Company. For sale by Lowman &
Hanford.
The striking characteristics OF 'Thais" are
beauty OF style, fertility of resource, and
startling originality in the treatment of the
momentuous problems of morality. "Thas"
presents mastery resume of the various
PHILOSOPHERS which skillfully con-
trasted with the tenets OF the early church.
In subject it suggests, although it does not re-
sembe, Kingsley's "Hypatia." The plot is
simple, the interest well sustained, the style
brilliant. "Thsis'' is directly in line with the
tendency of modern thought and will afford
delight to the thoughtful reader.
THE SHADOW OF SHAME. BY Austyn Gran
vile. Chicago: Charles Fl. sergel.
very extended anticipatory notice Of "The
Shadow of shame" has already appeared in
these columns, and it is necessary cow only to
say that the promise held out is amply fulfilled.
The romance is worked out with wonderful
clearness, the secret of the plot being that two
sisters lead entirely different lives aud the COM
plications which sustain the interest depend
upon the similarity OF appearance between the
two women. It's sensational, it is true, but the
characters are boldly drawn and the incidents
natural though dramatic.
THE LADY OF THE LENS. By Frank Carleton
Long. Illustrated. Chicago: L E. Crandall
d Co.
"The Lady of the Lens Is a story arising from
an incident in the civil war, wherein the her
first sees the heroine from point OF military
observation, through a telescope The quaint
ness OF the title is borne out by the novelty OF
the plot.