New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-07-01
RECENT FICTION.
BEATRICE HARRADEN's PORTRAIT OF A
NEW WOMAN"

RIDAN THE DEVIL AND OTHER STORt Torres
J. b. Lippincott Company.
THE HEART OF MIRANDA AND oT III q
q Marriott f'' Watson sT2 l2mo pp Ssj. John
Lane
THE SIXTH SENSE AND OTHER STORIES ,IS SJI5s
BY Margaret Sutton Briscoe' llus'ra'eu i-''o
PIP. ga. Harper & Brothers
A novelists invention of characters that live
and breathe and have veritable being In his
pages presupposes gift which Is commonly re-
garded as the greatest he can possess. There Is
another that II not greater is certainly as es-
sential to the production Of good fiction. IL is
the gift for showing clearly and naturally the
interaction Of characters. In other words. the
central figure in novel cannot be delineated
for It's own sake. Its reality can only be ratified
in its conflict with the subsidiary personages
in the book. When the hero holds the stage too
tenaciously II is apt TO appear as II his actions
sprang from his inner consciousness alone, and
not from circumstances from his dealings with
his fellow We are reminded Of all this by
Miss Harraden's new novel The Fowler" In
IT there is very clever drawing Of charac-
ter The heroine is new woma " with some
really new qualities and these are not unat
tractive. She is vastly educated. OF course, and
has numerous advanced" ideas. but she Is far
from being a pedant or a blue stocking. Though
she belongs TO a woman's club which mere man
is only allowed 10 visit after the most searching
examination Of his credentials, she is TOO nght-
hearted to befog her mind with any OF those
problems with which such clubs, in fiction, are
wont TO seethe. Handsome. healthy. blessed
with a lively sense of humor. and having a
circle Of delightful friends. Nora Penhurst is in
short, about as wholesome a creature as any
in recent fiction She and her father their lit
erary friend Brian Uppingham. Nurse Isabel
and the group Of humble and amusing country
folk also included in the story, are lifelike and
likable. Watching the author she exhibits
the perfectly human traits of her characters
one concludes that she has undoubtedly that
first gift to which we have referred; she can
make her people 1--we But then she introduces
the man whose relations with the heroine are
supposed TO yield the drama of the book. and
straiGhtway the whole fabric tumbles to pieces.
Why? Because the gift for displaying the ac-
ton of one character upon another is not pos
sessed by Miss Harraden.
Her purpose is suggested by the quotation
with which she explains her title, our soul Is
Escaped Even as a Bird Out Of the Snare OF the
Fowler" Miss Nora Penhurs with her beauty
and strength her intelligence and her love o;
fun is to be SHARED by a contemplate lover, and
is only to escape after dire spiritual trouble
The idea is reasonable. The execution is dole
fully poor. Theodore Bevan is a cad or the
vilest description. His personal appearance is
mean and his soul is infinitely meaner. He has
some brains. but they have been degraded
through the devilish cyncism Of his spirit. He
wooes Nora with great relish. 1t Is an expert
ence. He notes his sensations in his journal
at is very odd how pleased 1 feel" he says,
when any sad remark OF mine concerning my
lonely life or my small stature touches up my
pOffr |
been lonely. And for my small stature-1
would not change with any one-but Athene's
sympathy with my fancied is extremely
agreeable to me- l enjoy it." No one but Nora
-Athene as he calls her-has the least sympathy
for the lying little beast. But we are asked to
believe that she. with all her mind and humor
could fall completely under Bevans spell, and
only eude him at the end after soul-shaklnS
doubts and efforts. To the merest amateur IN
the reading Of character a man Ike Bevan would
be seen in his true light in five minutes. Nora
Penhurst an abnormally clever girl, accepts
him on his own valuation with incomprehensible
readiness She is warned but ignores the warn
ing. Bevan himself behaves in ways transpar-
emily selfish and nasty but she cngs to him.
That she is saved from him and falls into the
arms OF q worthy lover seems far better fortune
than she deserves. She had not the excuse that
some charm in Bevan might have provided lie
could not have charmed an idiot One closes the
book with the feeling that the characters In II
are suspended in space: their doings are not
related Bevan's effect upon the heroine would
be incredible in any case. and is especially pre-
posterous when her nature is considered. To
accept her experience with Bevan as natural Is
to discredit all the plausible touches in her
portrait; she becomes a pasteboard figure in
stead of a woman. We prefer TO retain our con-
fdence in the woman. to congratulate Miss Har-
raden on the creation of Miss Penhurst while
we deplore her failure to weave good story
about that charming individual
The reader who asks Mrs. Fraser for local
color" will not be disappointed. There is plenty
OF il in THE Custom of the Country" But we
are not inclined to lay stress upon her painting
of Japanese scenes or upon the glimpses that she
gives us of native manners. The main point for
her is the heart that beats to the same measure
under an English bodice or a japanese kimono:
she gives us hints OF Oriental fe but IT is the
nathos and romance Of life everywhere that
we find at the bottom Of her work. The first
tale in the book treats Of the love OF Scotch
man settled at TOXIC, OF his eager preparation
for the coming of his bride. and OF his merciful
death before her arrival The motive is tragic.
and 1t is handled with genuine feeling. Even
more impressive is the longer story, which gives
the title TO the book. This narrative Of an Eng
lshman's fortutous marriage and Of the results
springing therefrom. has all the poignancy OF
an incident in the life at doors, but over it
is flung the glamour OF Japan. the quantness
of native types and dress the tragic interest of
a meeting between East and West that is per-
sonal and passionate. not a matter of politics
but a matter OF perfect love. It says much for
Mrs Fraser's art that she holds the balance true
between the emotional elements In her story and
the exotic. picturesque side Of It. Local color
and the eternal verities have equal chances. The
impression they leave Ia one OF absolute unity.
The authors recent volumes on Japan revealed
her knowledge Of the country These stories dis