The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-20
Minor Fiction.

s1.50)
Minor Fiction.
As the first work OF a young and bril-
| liant writer Diana Tempest" by Mary
/ cholmondeley. has been reprinted for pub
| lication in America. This reprint is due
mainly to the immense success which Miss
Cholmondeley's later work, Red Pottage,
| had some months ago.
Diana Tempest of course, challenges
comparison with the more recent novel,
and it must be said that in some respects
the latter suffers. The most important
| point of difference is the character OF the
respective heroines. in Red Pottage' the
author missed her mark. In Diana Tenn
| pest she emphatically did not. Diana is
a charming, wholesome, original, individr-
| al girl. and while it seems now and then
as if the working out of her destiny might
nave been FASTENED by her without loss
of dignity, she is still thoroughly human
and natural, while Rachel, in the later
novel; is neither. On the other hand, Red
| Pottage" contains one superb piece OF
| character drawing in the Gusley family,
and there is nothing in Diana Tempest
to compare with it. On the who.e, the
strongest points IN Miss Cholmonde.ey' S
first successful novel are her heroine and
! her plot though the hero is not by any
means to be despised.
One of the finest chapters in the book is
that in which John Fame discovers that he
/ is not Tempest and has no lawful right
to the ancestral home, which he has learn
| ed to love with all the strength and pas
sion of a reserved and intense nature
The situation demands almost impossible
| self-abnegation and devotion to abstract
truth, but this man is equal to it. The au-
thor is also equal to the very difficult
| task of solving the complicated problem
of her plot and saving the old Tempest
estate from the ruthless hands of Colonel
Tempest and his son Archie. The plot is,
| altogether, most cleverly constructed, and
| most of the character drawing is mastery.
Moreover. there is strong moral purpose
| running through the whole book, which is
rather unusual in latter-day fiction, and is
i yet not managed SO tactlessly as to be Of
| fensive. There are few novelists who can
time, but this young English woman is one
of them. (New York: d. Appleton & Coz
"a Man of His Age" by Hamilton
| Drummond, is one of the French historical
novels which have been abundant Of late,
and it is a fairly good one. Catherine de
Medici figures in it to limited extent,
and Jeanne and Henry of Navarro are i'm
portant characters. The hero, Blaise de
Bernauld. is a gentleman of Navarro,
whose adventurous life is entirely devoted
to the cause of his Queen. One of the most
exciting episodes is the flight Of Prince
Henri. in disguise, from de Bernauld's
castle, which was besieged by emissaries
Of Catherine. Suzanne de Romenay, a fair
and subtle damseI waiting woman to
| Catherine, and spy at the court Of Ma
| varre, figures prominently in the story,
and it is rather difficult to fathom her
complex and much misunderstood char
acter Mr. Drummonds character draw
ing is not his strong point. He is not def
mite enough, nor does he pay quite enough
attention to consistency. New York:
Harper & Bros. s1.25.)
- -ar s,f-,..-pfi'
THE Parsonage PERCH by Bradley Gil
man. is book of rather clever little tales,
dealing. as the title indicates with the life
of a clergyman. There is a good deal Of
human nature in all of them, and in one
there is most realistic piece of dog ma
ture. "A Misunderstood Dog" is pathetic
little story of Satan. an animal which had
an undeseryed reputation for ferocity.
willis. the Dreamer" is the best of the
stories from an artistic point OF view, and
| there is much imaginative power ard
| pathos in it. "Wanted-A Young Minis
ter will be recognized, with smile and a
sigh, by thousands of young and old clergy
men throughout the land, If they chance to
see it, as true picture of the conditions
| existing in a country parish 1t ought to
be circulated in TIE form of tract, in
every theological seminary, though its eff
feet upon young students about to enter
upon the clerical life might be prohibitive.
Another pathetic and charming bit of real
life is THE Rival UndertakeTs,'' and Mr.
Gilman is probable the-first writer in
American fiction to handle this .aaterial so
nicely. Boston Little, Brown G. Co.
S1.00D
1.-The Garden of Eden" by Blanche Will
lis Howard, is a story in which most of
| the readers attention will be absorbed in
trying to determine what on earth the
| author is trying to do with her heroine
This heroine is named Monica, an appro-
pirate name for a femme incomprise,
which she most assuredly is. With the
most innocent intentions in the world the
| young lady manages to get herself into a
variety of surprising and compromising
| situations, from all of which she energies
| with unsullied purity, looking like saint
| and feeling more and more like one. There
| is some good character drawing in the
| "a
| this author-and there are scraps of in
teresting psychology which seems to be to
some extent antobiographical-bu as a
whole the book is as bad as possible.
.'The New Workers and Other Peope,
by Frances Aymar Mathews, is book Of
decidedly clever little stories. cosmopolitan
in tone and showing considerable skill in
character drawing and construction. Tie
scene is laid anywhere. apparently. as tire
writer's whim may decide-France. Rus
STA, New York, st. Petersburg, Glasgow
and there are few authors who can handle
with equal skill the inhabitants Of al
these different countries. The present
novelist has succeeded fairly well. and al
of the stories are marked with strong
individuality. Perhaps the hest. thoueh
one of the least ambitious, is the last Of
the series. THE Cats Eye" which pcs
sesses Gallo lightness, cynicism, and vi
,acity, with touch of real feeling viii h
is not exactly French. THE Prisoner of
the Steen'' is direct plagiarism from .'The
Man in the Iron Mask known to history,
and THE Empress of an Hour" may or
may not have some slight historical found
| alton, but it is very well done, indeed.
1.-TWO of a Kind and the Joker" is a