St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-06-10
NEW BOOKS.

"Thc Last Sentence" by Maxwell Gray.
author Of "rhs Silence OF Dean Matt
land" ETC., etc.; Lowell, Coryell IL
| Co.. New York; illustrated by Albert;
| Hencke. A -
The profound impression produced by
"The Silence of Dean Maitland"-tfe
literary success of that year-led re-
viewers to predict great things of Max
well Gray. But her subsequent.WQrks did
not fulfill the prediction. They were
interesting stories, but lacking th1
power of delineation. or the deep visI
of character, as the impelling :force to
action of the first volume.
In this new book, 1.-The Last Sem
tenee," the author has given of her
best: The same vivid and realistic de-
i scriptiOnSQf scenes and places, whether
the bleak, sandy waste of Brittany. with
Its purple-gray lichen-em 6roiderelf
dfuidic stones and moaning surf, or the
white cliffs and gray downs OF England!,
| all are painted iD such clear, true light
that they seem present reality to the
reader, and one involuntarily listehS
for the hum of the bees in the apple
blossoms or the melody of larks in the
| meadows.
| The characters of Dean Maitland and
Cecil Marlowe have many points of re-
semblance. Both men of spOtless repu-
tations,: good neighbors, loving hus-
bands and fathers, loyal friends. yet
sc0wardly, treacherous hypoerites. Both
men, carrying the secret of their crime,
rose from one position of honor to a
| higher until one was elected bishop,
and the other wore for years the er-
mine of judge.
| Ii it were the writer's aim to show
how despicable thing cowardice and
treachery can make man possessed of
all advantages birth and education can
give. she amply succeeded. All grace
| of speech and manner, all kindly acts
bore the blight of their guilt. The terror
of the ''Dies Ir8" was to them daily
| realization.
| Perhaps there is no personality in this
book SO lovable and charming as DIR.
Everad of the caller work, but Cynthia
| MarloWe, the innocent wife made miser-
able BY the husband who loved her, and
yet wronged her by his deceit and COW
ardice, is a fine character, full of a
sweet graciousness and sympathy, and
possessed of the finest sense of honor
| and truth.
The dramatic element of the story
rises step by step, increasing in inten-
| sity until the climax is reached when
Judge Marl0we-the father puts on the
black cap to pronounce the death SEN
tence on his disavoWed child. 1t is more
thrilling than the deans last service in
the cathedral when he confessed his
guilt.
How wildly the writer depicts the
scene where Renee. the unloved and de-
serted wife, stands under the fir trees
on Christmas eve, gazing in at the hall
window of Cottesloe upon a CHEEKY
view of the family circle. The blazing
logs illuminated the walls, hung with
trophies of war and sport, all decorated
with holly and mistletoe. and the merry
faces of the family seated around the
fire; her own husband leaning IN
lover-like attitude over another wom-
ans chair. clasping her hand, while out:
side of all the warmth and love she-his
Wife-stands, the piercing cold CONCEAL
| ing the blood in her veins, and the fall.1
ing snow burying her under its white
DRIFT. "But as she looked. the fireside
| group grew vague and distant; the fire.
light changed to altar lights; it was her
first communion. She had made her
confession we'll; her soul was quite
white, aud she was very happy. The
broken heart was at rest"
1.-The Diary of Nobody by George
| and WheedoE Grassmith., Lowell,
Coryell & Co., New York.
| This diary originally appeared in
Puck, and was considered a hit then.
Since then it has been rewritten and
added to to form the present volume.
The records are written in the most
matter-of-tact, soliloquizing way, full of
| quiet hnmor which is very amusing.
| The reader is reminded of Mark TwaiRs
'1nnocents Abroad" Mr.. Porter. the
writer OF the diary, has the same child
like faith as the New Pilgrim" the
same unerring instinct of nature which
made him weep over the grave of his
poor dead relative Adam. He seems
to look upon the world with sad, ques-
tiioning eyes, as if suddenly transported
to this world from some far.distant
planet. He is full of plans and schemes
which invariably end in blunders and
general unpIeasantness. and this diary
is plain, unvarnished record of his
experiences.
A capital book to read aloud, Or to fill
up spare moments.
s'Love Affairs of Worldly Man." by
Maibelle Justice. F. Tennyson Nicely,
Publisher, Chicago. Price, SO cents.
oThe author says ''the plot of this book
is not so much to convey moral OF a
! theory, as to depict how life's realities
| differ from ambitions cherished
dreams"
Alvin Geoffrey-the Worldly Man
wrecked his life in his youth by mar
| rage with an actress many years his
senior, out of all engagement and very
poor. After six months of marriage she
| left him and returned to the stage, nam
ing her allowance.
| Godfrey, being thus we'll started for
! the part of a worldly man, with all the
| illusions of youth dissipated, his mother
dead from grief and his father broken
| hearted; with Nemesis of mis- own
invoking to attend his footsteps, to
blight every enthusiasm and wither
every hope. looks upon life as thing
dead and gone, having 10 further inter
| est for him. In this state of mind he
met Dutzia Gaynor, a young Anglo
indian girl. and loved her. At this
| point the story begins.
The different characters in the book
are interesting as real types of living
| persons. Geoffrey's two friends. the
awkward, manly Won Vankendief, and
the honest. laundering English noble.
man, Sir Reginald Clittenden, are not
unknown characters. Mrs. Heatherton,
| INSCRIPTIONS and insincere. and Katie
Romney. as pretty and as useless as
| daintv niene of hisnna WE have all mat