New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-11-26
FICTION.
A STUDY of THE RELATION OF "PoSE
TO LIFE.

TO LIFE.
THE HUMAN INTEREST. \ study IN no lnG CON
patibics by Violet Hunt Emo, PIP. A9' Her
bert 5 Stone CO.
THE QUEENS TWIN AND OTHER STORIES SIGS
BY Sarah Orne Jewett. l2mo, PIP. ~ housn
ton. Miin a. 60.
Tragedies by /. zangwill $40, PIP. iS6' inc
Macmillan Company.
Mrs Mortimer Files the heroine OF lhe
Human Interest" is type which ought 10 oe
detestable, but manages to engage the syihpa
thies Of a good many people in novels ana OUT
OF them She poses necessarily Al times 'heie
seems in her whole nature scarcely trace VI
the capacity for genuine emotion. But ~ poSc
always divided from poignant ieeilhg by al I'M
passable gulf? Violet Hunt tacitly answers ths
question in the negative. She makes her us
cor,entad little lady all amateurish 1bsenism
and tormented nerves, Il creature undouoleuly
frivolous and shallow, but possessed also vi
potentialities a fool burgeoning into a state OF
wisdom Just how far the process or eVolutioh
IS carried in the Of Mrs. Files the author
leaves us to lima CINE for ourselves she closes
tho hook on a climax susceptible OF various
developments. But she gives us all through the
story glimpses enough OF her heroine's under
that in the long run she will emerge triumphant
from her long struggle with fate and her own
follies. winning the husband who is not ex-
plicitlv awarded to her in the pages OF the DOCK
Pose in Mrs Files, not an altogether
dosnicabe thing 1t sprang from the veritable
moods of her nature and once those came TO
mo satisfied we feel that she probably abandoned
her afTcctations The author pcfsGades her
critic Of this by the force of reason by her
insight into character. It must be said also
that she makes agreement easier by painting
Mrs. Files as a captivating individual. pleasant
to meet despite her serious faults.
The tales gathered together in Miss Jewetts
new book are to be accepted, we suppose aS
works Of fiction but they have the speclM charm
and vitality Of sketches made direct from
,.ture without the interposition Of any in
vented figures. scenes or situations. The de-
uphtful old lady in the titular story must surely
have existed som where in New England. ii
not We can only say that she ought to have
lived and brcathed and had her being in some
such appropriate environment as the author de-
scribes she is so natural, touching, 50 in
tercsting. Mrs. Abby Martin, the woman In
question, was born the same day as Queen
Victoria. Her Royal Majesty and J." she says.
Opened our eyes upon this world together; say
what you may, It's bond between us" The
bond was strengthened when the simple soul
saw the Queen in London but, even if this priv
iege had never been vOuChsafed to her. Abby
Martin would have cherished her strange fancy.
The strangeness is mnmZed by Miss JeWett
She presents the matter with such sympathy
and such unobtTusive art that when Abby says
we've both seen trouble but she's had the most
care" we accept the twinshp part Of a game
too beguiling for mere matters of fact to be
allowed to break its charm. There eight
stories in this book and they are all perfect in
their way. Miss JcWett is never strenuous
never sOlicitous as TO her effect. which flows
indeed. as inevitably i'm life itself from the
characters and occurrences with which she
deals. The fragrance ard beauty Of the New
England landscape are in her pages. and human
nature is seen i'm her pictures of it at an angle
which quckcns our interest We value most
Of all a certain gcntlcness Of feeling which is
communicated to everything that this writer
produces.
Mr. ZangWilrs charaotcristi traits. as re-
lected in most of his writings. are not par