The times., 1899-03-12
Minor Fiction.

a. barnett, Is one OF inOSe DOCKS Oh WHlCH
one may say with toIerable certainty that
it is the story of some real woman. There
is very little plot in it, but there is a great
deal Of human nature, of a certain type,
and it has evidently been written by a
woman who is in earnest.
The book is not exactly problem novel;
at least, it is not what has lately been
known by that name. The heroine Tabitha
Nassie, is one of those ugly ducklings
whose mothers worry their lives out of
them because they are so unlike other
people" Wearied, body and soul, by the
empty. aimless life of a miidle-class Eng
lish girl of narrow means, she goes to Lon
don, determined to earn her own living.
Thwarted by her family at every turn, de-
MED the little money she needs TO fit her
self for work, suffering all the time from
the feeling that no one understands her or
approves Of her, she succumbs at last to
hard work, starvation, and discouragement,
and dies at thirty, worn out woman. The
picture is perfectly drawn; there have been
hundreds of just such cases. AS the
title indicates, this woman lived twenty or
more years ago, when it was less easy for
women to become self-supporting than 1t
is now. She also lived in England. These
two facts must be taken into account by
the modern American girl in reading the
book.
The thought which the author brings out
In this careful character study Is that 1t Is
not women's natural weakness and inca
pacity which is in the way OF their sue
cess so much as the handicapping from
others to which they are subjected. Hun
dreds OF girls have gone out into the world
to support themselves, hindered at every
step by the scruples and commands OF
well meaning parents who would not think
of hampering a boy in any such way.
womans sensitive nature has been devel-
oped through generations; she has been
trained from babyhood to care what others
say of her, and particularly to defer to
the opinion of those she loves. When
those that she loves misunderstood and
disapprove of her she is more utterly alone
| in her struggle for success than a man
| ever can be; because she is shut out from
all society for a time. 1t is easy to say
| in reading this book that Tabitha had too
much conscience; but she was the product
| of the conditions under which she was
| born. Had she been an American girl her
quick intelligence, untiring ambition. and
devotion 10 duty would have made her
success, and then-as the author hints
| her family would have been proud of her
and taken most of the credit to them
| selves. II her people had been as loyal
| to her as she was TO them she must have
| succeeded; for even under adverse social
| conditions hard work and loyalty are re-
waTded. But under the circumstances
| with the Ceasless strain OF her work on
one part of her nature and of unsatisfed
affection on the other, and with the frail
| physique inherited from a generation or
| two OF ladyhood. she was simply ground
! between two millstones.
1t is pathetic little story. and although
! It appeals only to a particular class wo-
| men workers will feel that IL touches
their own experience at many points. The
Characterization of Mrs. Vassie. with her
| faithfulness TO her duty as she saw it.
her unsuspected seIfshness, and her lack
of perception. is as good as anything in
recent literature. There is a clever little
touch at the end of the book when the
author sketches the subsequent develop
ment of Hilda. Tabitha's cousin. Warm
hearted, impetuous, clear headed frank
Hilda understands Tabitha's case better
than Tabitha herself, and becomes disgust
ed with the cold blooded Indifference of the
WASHES TO the claims of the daughter and
sister TO their support and help. The re-
suit of II all is that she recoils from Ia
hitha over er-conscientiousness and becomes
a new woman repudiatng obligations
TO the family. Perhaps such object lessons
as Tabitha's life and death are responsible
for more than one so-called new woman"
OF cynical and unromantic turn of mind
People are fond nowadays of abusing the
modern girl for selfshly choosing her own
way, but perhaps there is something TO be
said about the selfishness of the old fash
ioncd parent. At any rate. that seems to
be the view of this author, and she has
brought out the arguments for it very
skillfully. Chicago: Herbert S. Stone x
Coz
The knights of the Golden Chain" by
r. b. ChetwOde, who will be remembered
as the author Of another historical novel
John of Strathbourne," is Il story OF En-
gland in the days OF Stephen and Matilda.
The hero Alain Totynge is a Norman.
son of a noble family. and at the begin
ming of the book is thrown into prison un-
der unjust accusation of murder Es-
Gaping from the prison he meets band of
iongleus, or wandering players. who have
in captivity little maid called Ella. He
rescues the maiden. and the love affair OF
the book begins. After series of adyen-
lures Of much interest and no little peril,
il is discovered that Ella also belongs to a
noble Norman family, and Alain is united
to his lady love In the approved style OF
romance.
The story is well told and full of vivid
, and picturesque descriptions. One of the
incidents in the development of the pot
is the escape of Queen Matilda from OK
ford, which was one of the most dramatic
adventures of history. the Queen, with a
few trusty knights, passing through the
very midst OF the enemy's camp, dressed
in white robes, and concealed by the
whirling mist OF a snOwstOrm. The story
has never, perhaps, been better told than
by Mr. Chetwode Another strong chap
ter is that which describes the inprison-
ment OF Alain in the castle of Ranu,f the
Wolf II is grewsome. but realistic. The
book is unusually rich in pictures of the
rude life OF that time and anyone anx-
ious to get clear idea of the actual con-
dition of England in the troublous times
following the Conquest will do well to buy
the book and read It, (New York: D.
Appleton & Co. SD
"a West Point Wooing' by Clara Lou
ise Burnham, is a collection of short sto-
ries OF n pleasant and gossipy character
such as the author has often written before
Most of them are a little too agreeable iu
their denouements TO be at all like real life
but after all, one can endure an unreal
istic story which ends well more philosoph-
: ically than one untrue to life in which al
, the characters are dead or broken hearted
> in the last chapter! Perhaps the best OF
the lot is THE Cadet Captains Expert
ment" There is poetic justice about tn,
outcome of the experiment which is agree.
able. In two or three Of the stories tn,
West Point atmosphere is skillfully repro
duced and the book is just the sort o
reading for a schoolgirls holiday. (Bos
| AZ ift,I A, m