New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-06
FICTION.
A GROUP OF WOMEN WRITER'S

n
well Gray. l2mo pr. & Harper & Rrothers'
TIE KING OF THE TOWN. ~ Ellen Maciubin.
emo PIP 49, lIoughon. Mifin e GO.
at THE CROSSROADS BY F. +. Montresor
l2mo. up. 425. H. Appleton e Co
THE GODS ARRIVE, " ~; Annie 81 F. HOldsw0rth-
A PRINCE OF MISCrANCE. by T. Gallon Emo.
PIP. 29l ID. Appleton co.
THE GREAT STONE OF SARDIS. Novel
BY Frank r. Stockton. Illustrated Sy Ie,sI
Newell Duodecimo. PIP. 90 harper q bIo'"-
Nearly all the novels with which we deal beio"
are by women-indeed. We are not sure that the
1Gthor OF "A Prince Of Mscbance" does not wear
t.;ticoats ror tho story has no specially mascu-
line ear,nark In their virtues. as in their
faults. tho books OF women are nowadays much
Hike their chief defect being forcing or the
note" Each Of the books grouped here shows
this more or less The work Of DOrOthea Gerard
,-Cthorwsc Mime Longard dc LOnggarde-has
Last OF the blemish In Miss Providence" she
tells an uncommony neat, amusing ana IN
,.ructive story. The very young lady whose
iatural tendency to manage everybody's affairs
l. encouraged by q doting father is drawn with
much shreyvd hunor; and when she turns her be-
trothed over 10 a schaming adventures because
she fatuously believes the woman's tale or
rtic- claim, the reader feels a comfortable as
s1rance that Miss providence's lesson IS TO be
a severe as it is deserved. Severe 1t is; but IN
eccopting it our heroine shows herself so frank.
gentle ard winning a girl that we rejoice when
TIE ordeal is over and all ends happily. This
novel is the most finished graceful and witty bit
o. work on our list.
little pastoral romance. smacklng OF curds
and whey and golden fruit and rosy rustics. may
40 and rte 81 uprfO
tened with certain artless art and at least a
SUGGESTION Of humor. Even a strain Of senti-
mentality may be endured But without ques-
ton il must have to be successful. air of
sportancity Of unpremedtation Maxwell Grays
story Is in this particular disappointing 1t Is
lalcred to the last degree. especially In It's de-
stription Of nature. Adjective is piled on adject-
I've. color color. with the studied effort that
the shopman applies TO the arrangement OF his
window display. The book is throughout remin-
iscent of Thomas Hardy. though only enough so
to mark it's nferiority. Its portrayal Of rustic
character is commonplace, and but slightly tinct-
ured with humor, its plot such as it is, is anti
Quated trivial and improbable. The reader has
suspicion that the author said TO herself: Go
TO- | also will evolve an idyl full OF smock-
frocks, hollyhocks. dialect and the breath OF
kire: good Master Harry shall learn that there
ere others" Alas that the true prose poem
cannot be a work Of cold blooded intention!
Miss Mackubin's King of the Town" would
have been NOR effective as short story than it
IS as a novelette,. Considering its material and
the use thereof it is spun out too far. and it
lcscs the dramatic force that tale Of rough
frontier life should have and that the more con-
densed form might have helped to secure. The
king" reformed evildOer who evangezes a
mining town by dint Of sermons and personal
daring. is not convincing parsonage He is. in
short. q woman's hero of the type that causes
derisive smile to wreath the countenance of the
male reader The story shows conscientious en-
3eavor, excellent gift of style and promise
al better work for the future-and this is the
best that we say Of it. Animated some
portions of it are. they are puppets that move.
and not breathing. suffering human beings.
Miss Montresor's new novel is the most Wig
ocoua and original work which she has yet pro-
tuced. strictly feminine element appears in
Che absurdity Of the device which sends the inno-
cent hero to prison and in the too hasty and
publicly established. These weaknesses granted
the story is to be praised for its spirited drawing
Of character and its enforcement of several cred
table morals.
A notable example Of the forced note we have
mentioned is the tale called "The Gods Arrive"
II Is obvious that the half gods' must first be
disposed If in the life OF the Superior Woman
who is the heroine. and disposed Of they are in
style punctuated by sentimental gasps. The