The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-06-17


drawings By Dan Beard which add to the
interes: of the text. New York: ID. APP
pleton & Co. For sale by the Bancroft
Company.l
DIVORCE, Or FAITHFUL AND UNFAITH-
FUL.-This novel by Margaret Lee had the
good fortune to attract the attention Of Mr..
Gladstone, who reviewed it briefly in the
Nineteenth Century. 1t has been said that
Mr.. Glsdstone's interest lay in the subject
matter of the book which he characterized
as the greatest and deepest OF all human
controversies" rather than in the story it.
self. Be this as it may, the careful reader
Will soon reach the conclusion that apart
from the subject matter the author de-
serves much credit for the plot of the
novel, the character of the work and the
style OF the story. A young girl, Con-
stance Morgan, becomes the wife of a
young man. Gilbert Travers, who at first
sight seemed gifted with all the qualities
that would make a woman happy. How
ever, their characters are different, she is
honest and upright. a recognizer and
follower of duty; he, on the contrary, is
specious, speculative, facIle and fond
OF tiattery and pleasure. The growing
beauty of character in the woman
IS ably sketched, as also Is the deterlora-
ton OF the man. At last be shows him self
in his true character, offers his wife a d.
vorce, and on her spurning the offer, Qul-
city goes away 10 another State, gets q
divorce and marries the woman who had
infatuated him. The gist of the book lies
in the wOman's question, "Can man
divorce his wife without any cause@ The
answer Is yes, an answer of which we are
ashamed. Not only the question of the
varying divorce laws in the different States,
but the general question of divorce needs
overhauliDg. A laxlty In divorce laws
10 md Cfah of
the marriage relation, the only secure foun-
datiOn of society. In Divorce" Margaret
Lee main tains the old-fashioned but at
the present day unpopular doctrine that
there should be no severance of the mar
rage tie. New York: Lowell. COryell g.
Co. For sale by Payot. Upham & Col
AGAINST ODDS: a ROMANCE OF THE
MIDWAY PLAIsANCE. - Lawrence J..
Lynch has made use of the Worlds Fair
and the Midway Plaisance for the setting
of detective story much above the aver
age. There is no doubt that in the hetero-
geneous collection of nationalities tina m ad e
up the famous Midway extraordinary
facilities were offered to the shrewdest
among the criminal classes. Warning had
been given of the arrival of q notorious
gang Of burglars, and special detectives
had been appointed 10 spot" and
capture them, result ultimately accom-
plished. but meantime the villains have
been given opportunities of concocting
and carrying into execution plots and
crimes startling enough to keep the inter-
est OF the reader TO the very end. The
love portion of the story, in which the
chief villain plays an important part, is a
good piece of work, and some portions Of
the character drawing deserve praise.
There is no doubt but that Against Odds"
will give pleasure to large class who love
tales of adventure aud perlous situations,
and IL must be said for the book that there
is nothing mawkish or unhealthy about 1t
In either the Mot or the manner of telling
the story. [Chicago and New York !:
Rand, McNally 81 Co. For sale by the
Bancroft Company.
THE DANCING FAUN.-In PREDATORY
note Florence Starr, the author of this
story, states that owing to circumstances
which have arisen it seems necessary to
state that it is purely work OF the i'm
agination and that none of the characters
or events are taken from real life.
Though it is very obvious what the cir
cumstances are TO which the writer refers,
yet the fear expressed in the note was
groundlesS as very few people would have
noticed the condolences of the facts and
characters. George Travers. the son of an
actor, was adopted by an old gentleman,
educated at Harrow and Oxford and put
into crack English regiment, but unfor-