New-York tribune., 1902-12-21

iustrated by A l. Kellar. 12mo, PIP. "a. Harper
& Bros.
AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE ,Es BY Rjch2bd 2bipnae de
Green Quarto, pp. IA. Harper & Bros.
THE STORY OF A STRANGE CAREER. Being
the Autobiography of Conyct An 1n1ao 2mo
PIP. xii, 363 D. Appleton & Co
5ETHka2k WEakER RAG9S s& By OF F J % sfimson Emo pp.
222. Charles Scribners Sons
The reader who knows Mr.. Dawson's BIS
millah" and his african Nights Entertain
ments" would do well, when he takes up f1'u-
den Mamma" with the eagerness inspired ov re'-
objections of the earlier books in question, 10
skip the advertisement" prefxed to the mover
by the author and the preface which has been
supplied by of his friends. These two docu-
1nents affected, intrusive. and in fact altogether
superfuous might easily one to put the
book aside without turning another one OF us
pages 1t seems almost incredible that novel,
ist guilty of this foolish twaddle should pe
able to write a good book. But we remember
again the volumes mentioned above ahu
plurging into Hidden Mamma we presently
thank the Fates for having sent us so absorbing
q tale. It deals with life in Morocco as IL IL
lived in places rarely visited by Europeans ana
almost never understood by them. Mr.. Dawson
i'''ANA
the Moors, and these pages have an atmosphere
beside which that of the average novel of ORR
entail character must seem false TO the point OF
aDsurdty.
He reintroduces a man OF whom he has had
something to say in previous story, one Joseph
Khassan, half-caste, who has come IN con-
tact with Western civilization only to have the
worst traits in his nature brought to the surface
and made to flourish with dreful results In
Hidden Mamma" this man returns to his native
land there to work out his repentance ana
though he turns beggar for the purpose, suffer
ing exposure with all humility, events in due
course give him place OF honor in the house
of an important Moorish magnate, the Shareef
Of Ain Araish, and, Furthermore. they afford
him the opportunity to atone for particular
wrong done in the past At this point the author
strains creduiity. That English woman
should marry a Moor is within the bounds OF
belief, and that accident should bring under her
roof the very man who has made her suffer ls
also credible But that this woman should pro-
ceed to make her husband, a holy Shareef, the
1nerest servant OF her wishes. that she should
oust his heir from his rightful place and put
whole cityful of Orientals under her thumb
these things we find it hard to swallow. on
the other hand, Mr. Dawson seems TO have so
deep an insight into Moorish character that,
foregoing remarks. find ourselves half IN
clned to take his word for 1t. and, in any case,
We confess to undiminishcd interest in his story
as a story. That is genuinely romantic, and.
into the bargain, intensely human. Comedy
and tragedy are deftly blended in this drama
of Moorish manners, and throughout there is
wonderful naturalnesS about their action. The
dongs OF the Shareefa Margaret may seem more
than strange and the authors style may suffer
here and there from what looks like a straining
after effect but on the whole his heart and
mind are in the right place, he has something 10
say far fresher and more interesting than any
thing ordinarily to be encountered in the fiction
of the day, and while hope that his next
book will be better one, are very grateful
for Hidden Mama"
Mrs. BANDS novel, THE Red House., Is
ment, moved by the contemplation of a young
and his wife imagined settling them
selves in a home and experiencing, in alter
nate strata, so to say the joys of sentiment and
the Of practical housekeeping. The hero
and his Chloe wake up in their modest estab-
liShment to learn that obgng uncle has left
them the house which gives this book its title,
and 800 year with which to make themselves
comfortable in its old fashioned rooms What
they enjoy and what they suffer when they take
possession Mrs. Bland pictures in vivid fashion,
lending to her narrative the agreeable qualities
tod