The Portland daily press., 1899-04-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

How could'st thou thus poor human
nature 'hum!'
There is no such season.
Nevertheless the calendar tells US that
tho 'rigor of q New England summer " Is
approaching, and already the books for
summer reading are emerging from the
various publishing houses.
From the Harpers come four hand some
volumes which are hammock liteatue
of the best, that Is, they are fiction, pure
and simple, and each is interesting, en-
tertaining, and very good of its kind
The covers are handsome, with artistic
decorations, the type clear and large, and
the illustrations excellent So far, In
deed, one may generalize In mentioning
these books, but here the similarity ends,
for in contents each is quite different to
tina other. They are: An Inoidens and
Other Happenings. by Sarah Barnwell
Elliott. The River Syndicate, by Charles
K. Carryl, The Capsina, an Historical
Novel by u. +. Benson, the author Of
Dodo, and Espiritu Santo, by Henrietta
Dana Skinner. who is, by the way, the
youngest daughter of Richard II. Dana,
Jr., the author of Two Years before the
Mast, and granddaughter Of Richard
Dana, poet and editor of the North
American Review.
Mrs. Skiuner's book may. in one sense,
be called n musical novel, as the leading
| characters are many of them musicians,
and in the loves of Adriano and Thso-
tiore Daretti. one the famous baritone,
and the other the tenor of the Paris
Opera, we find the special interest Of the
story.
The author has hsr own method Of free
ing her characters from their difficulties.
and occasionally does this in rather
startling manner, as If the remedy were
made to order for that special occasion;
like the sudden and miraculous CONVEX
sion of Leontine Disdier. Then too the
first part of the book is somewhat dull
and has superfluty of detail; hut after
a while the author warns to her work
and becomes most interesting, holding
our attention quito absorbingly to the
end.
1t seems q pity that writer OF so much
charm and grace and evident intellectual
training. should use such slipshod Eng
lish. For example. she speaks of 80
high boy soprano;" she says that school
let's OUT" she uses "expect" for suspect"
as, 81 expect we have both of us had
something to make our hearts feel little
respondent and lonelyl' And again.
there are these two awkward sentences:
The girl the poor fellow was engaged
to, and "1ip,e to get tired Of each other
in" These are of course minor matters,
and do not especially detract from the in
terest one feels in a novel which has
many strong points.
Apparently, Mrs. Skinner is Roman
Catholic At all events she speaks with
great reverence of the church, and of the
divine help and healing that comes to Its
votariss.
The scene of the story is in Paris, and
the characters are Italian, Spanish,
French and English.
Mr. Benson's historical novel. The
Capsina, is TO my mind distinctly dull
Perhaps ones taste in romance is rather
a matter of temperament than of critical
Judgment. The author, in this volume,
has given to the public more than three
hundred closely printed pages descriptive
of the Greek clan of Capsas. of the mag
niiicent and masculine girl, The Capsina,
who Is its chief, commands her own ship.
and does battle with the Turks. so 1t is
to be- hoped that many will find it more
entertaining than do.
The tale is very sensational, and the
climax is dramatic and highly tragic.
A heroine who having deliberately shot
her Turk and "felt his hot blood squirting
over her hand" is taken possession of
by the madness of fresh blood" whatever
that may be land laughs a soft, gentle,
cooling, cruel laugh. like in spirit to the
purring of wild cat which has killed its
evening meal and is pleased" This does
not seem to me quite a pleasant young
person to meet, either in fiction or out of
it.
Now we come to the other volumes,
which are collections of excellent short
stories. Miss Elliot who writes An Iu-
oident and Other Happenings. is we'll
known to us all by her sketches Of South
ern life which have appeared from time
to time in HArper's Magazine.
The present volume includes sight
stories. the one for which the book Is
named, Miss Maria's Revival. Faith ana
Faithfulness. An lex Brigadier, Squire
Kayley's Conclusions, without the Courts,
Mrs. Gollyhaw's Candy Stew, and Badly.
These all deal with Southern life sincs
the war. and are clever, picturesque and
interesting.
An Incident and Without the Courts are
written with purpose and treat of an
important problem which is simply
"Shsll 1t be lynch law. or the courts?"
The River Syndicate also takes its title
from the first story of seven which MIR.
Carryl gives us in his attractive volume.
These are narratives somewhat of the
Gaboreau tpye, annals of crime and
strange happenings, excepting one or two
of the sketches where, as in The Pasha