New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-05-22

THE DUENNA OF A GENIUS. BY NJ. F. Francis.
Duodecmo. pp. SGs. Little. Brown & Co.
There ar, pitfalls in the writing Of an archaic
novel which the author OF to-day would do well.
as rule, to avoid, since even so deep student
OF Old World men and manners as the late Will
lam Morris unable to weave his fancies OF
them into absolutely coherent works Of art
There seems something radically unmanageable
about too early English theme. except when
writer chooses to handle it in purely his
torical manner To attempt to revvfy the men
and women OF archaic times is to court OBJ
security nearly always. if not failure. The
imagination leaps with greater confidence into
the pure ether Of faryland than into the mixed
airs Of region partly tangible and partly un-
substantial. Whether Mr. Maurice Hewlett
would prove in The Forest Lovers" that he
could give vcrsimilitude to the knights, abbots.
chatclaincs and groundlirgs OF his Morgraunt
Forest sylvan region far away and dim. IN
spite IF the sturdy Norman and English place.
lanes roundabout was matter OF serious IN
teres to those familiar with his "Earthwork
Out Of Tuscany" That book, and some fugitive
essays elsewhere. had disclosed a reHiarkable
understanding of Renaissance life and art Win
a faculty for bringing both home u the SYM
pathies Of the present day with peculiar force.
But would The Forest Lovers, when was
sure to be characterized by as artistic spirit.
add convincing reality to its imaginative charm'
The answer To this question has not been dis
Amounting: on the contrary, The Forest Low
crs" is a book not only beautiful but alive
II has faults. to be sure, chiefly in matters OF
construction, though these are few and inlShs
perhaps be defended the score OF an inten-
tional subtIcty. For example. the vaguenes3
with which the crucial points in the relations
! LADY
Maulfry. his accomplce are treated, may mean
nothing more nor less than an artists carefu!ly
Wondered reticence Certainly there is some
thing impressive about the bl, ak atmosphere In
which these two sinners enwrarped, their
crimes affecting the lives OF the hero and hero
inc and yet serving more as so many shadows
| in the BACKGROUND Of a picture than as parts q
a closely knit drama. Considered az one mlgh1
consider an imaginary Portrait" by Walter
patcr or some such work Of curious and essen
TALLY literary art this treatment of events mas
|! a certain charm on the other hand II must
| he remembered that THE Forest Lovers calls
itself "A romance. and the ways or the eSsayiS'
are Justly excluded from that form OF art we
admire Mr.. Hcwlctt's subtlcty but We thlnK I"
i'll advised and besides, when we can
| subtlety we are giving him the beneht Oh
aouht II NAV have been something less pre-
,,osessinr 70 Wit an inability to handle his plot
with perfect authority for we notice that the
| kinship between the heroine and her mo'her'
and the issues springing therefrom. are also
| touched with less clarity than would nave been
compatible with the definite points of mystery
| required by the drama AZ whole here now
over we NAV turn to the merits Of the book.
which are great enough to obliterate the faults.
Devising a series Of adventures rs original as
|
OF men and women who are strongly human
| despite the poetic remoteness OF their time, ne
has piled ex .itement upon excitement has
c.us.d his story 10 move RI pidly, to glow with
genuine fires of emotion, and in order to pre-
serve the magic Of beautiful inspiration the
| fascination Of n bizarre and yet natural pas-
cant ne has woven into his narrative the coiors
row ~ the woodland and now Of an old
,,nestrv "The Forest Lovers" is piece or
ancient arras n thing mystcriously beautiful.
| hook that is real and at the same time radiant
with poetry and art It's faults are due to IN
cxncrience Mr. Hewlett will doubtless learn
| that methods which please himself ana rev
patient friends are not necessarily the t'S"'
methods He will write fiction as hction Pu'e
and simple should be written. But already ne
shows that he knows enough about that n'ii-
cul, art to produre important work we VIII
look with cagerness for successors TO Inc
Forest Lovers" but whether they come or not
that hook will he read with admiration and pre-
served with something more than respect
Nrs Aherton's story is in many respects a
,r;uio,t ,ircc Of work II has wit and spirit
or satire lust bu, not unkindly: ii reveals a
Loer observation and analysis OF character
and # inter,rets to us with remarkable success
cortaip National differences in habit. feeling