The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-06
Minor Fiction.

Love Among the Artists is new
novel by George Bernard Shaw. and like
IAN Uusccial Socialist" it reminds one
somewhat of the Eden Musee. Mr.. Shaw
has a marked talent for collecting in
romance human freaks Of all descriptions.
In this case ais hero is a maryelously i'm
polite, bru5que, and egOtstical person,
with a penchant for getting into scrapes
from which other people rescue him, and
abusing their kindness in most eccentric
ways In short, he has what some people
cali the artistic temperament in generous
measure, and everybody else in the book
obligingly gets out Of the way of it.
It would be interesting, If the thing
could be managed, to arrange a meeting
between Mr.. Owen Jack, the hero Of this
present romance and Sir Charles Grandi-
son. or some other old-fashioned novel
hero The love &c me in which he pro-
poses marriage to the young woman of
his choice is characteristic enough TO
quote
Then listen to me- he said. taking an atti-
tude in which she had seen him once or twice be-
fore when he had been illustrating his method
of teaching elocution II am not man 10 play
the part of a lover with grace Nature gave
me a rough frame that | might contend the bet
ter with a rough fortune. Nevertheless, | have
a heart and affections like other men; and those
affections have centred themselves you.' Mary
blanched and looked at him in terror.
Perhaps the young lady thought he was
going TO try to reach her heart with the
carving knife. The oldfashioned novel
heroine would not have known quite what
TO saw to a lover who had preceded his
declaration with half an hour of random
talk l. which the lover has informed her
that he gets ten guineas day for
teaching female apes to scream, so that
they may be the better qualified for the
marriage market" No wonder that the
maideu's nerves were somewhat unstrung
after making the effort to understand the
character of so peculiar cavalier.
For the rest, the story is Interesting
in the sense that 1t is thoroughly charac-
teristic of the author. He is a writer
whom one must either like or dislike.
Those who like him will enjoy this book,
and those VINO do not are not likely to
read 1t. Chicago: Herbert S. Stone &
Co. s1.50)
Charming Renee" by Arabella Ke-
nealv. is a tale of English life as it is
sometimes supposed to be- The heroine
is an inconveniently beautiful English
girl who is too good for her own set of
young people and eventually marries
nobleman. This nobIeman is as Moor
rlElDle q UllSdHlHIOpt do ndS Olteh bttu
found in fiction. The author has con-
structed her plot with considerable clev-
erness, but the working out of it is
sometimes faulty, judged by the strictest
standard. We are told in one of the
early chapters that the heroine
gathered up her limbs and rose
rather as if the young lady were a spider
or a centipede. We have also an incOm-
prehensible sister-in-law OF the hero who
has a gusty temper and an inverted
eve" whatever that may mean. (New
York: Harper & Bros. Sl.5O)
"My Indian Queen" by Guy Boothby. is
the story of young blood of the last cen
fury, who, after getting into debt and
other troubles at home, is induced to try
to retrieve his fortunes in India. His
adventures there are numerous and inter
estIng. New York: d. Appleton & Co
81
"Vjsiting the SIM" by e. Rayner. Is q
story of Eastern Kentucky and Tennes-
see, dealing with the mountaneers of
that region. 1t is q wild mixture OF in
trigue, suspicion, violence. and death, he
motive of the plot being the discovery of
the heroine's father supposed to have
been murdered fifteen years before the
opening of the story. The dialect OF the
region is well Reproduced, and there is
not too much out OF the way spelling The
atmosphere of the locality Is also true to
life and the plot Is cleyerly construc ed.
(Boston: Small. Maynard d Co. $500