New-York tribune., 1902-02-22
NEW NOVELS.
BOOKS BY MRS. BURNETT. Mr.. STOCKTON
AND OTHERS.

| THE MAKING OF MARCHIONEss. By Fran-
Hodgson Burnett. Illustrated by = -.
Williams. 12mo PIP 1s The Frederick A
THE METHODS OF LADY WAL4D2ER4atD ALP 1s.4Id u DRsI II,
BY FranGes Hodgson Burnett @ ILLUSTRATES adsdr,o oy
A. Stokes Company.
KATE BONNET. The Romance of Pirates
Daughter BY Frank r, stockton illustrated
40 D Appleton & Co.
THE ROLE OF THE UNCoNQUERED, BY Test
Dalton. 12mo. PIP. S29. G. W. Dillingham; Com
Mrs Burnett's two books, If they were
much less interesting in plot than they are.
would irresistibly appeal to her readers in the
compelling charm of her heroine. She has writ
ten many STORIES but she has never before in
vented a character so consistent, so winning and
so very much alive. Perhaps no such fine Great
ure as Emily Fox-Seton the ideal gentlewoman
of old fashioned Victorian aspiration, has ever
existed; but the author has deftly made her
seem more than probable. and has done so with
slight use of sentimental glamour. genuinely
kind, simple hearted unselfsh, innocent lady
our heroine is yet not at all too good for hu-
man natures daily food. though a strangely uh-
worldly figure for a modern novel. The story OF
I her marriage is of the fairy sort that the wise
| King Cophetua has left to us. To the well porn
| beggar maid bravely earning precarlous Nv
| ing, happy with little and never dreaming that
| high fortune could be for her there comes
of all the world of fairer, younger women! Thls
| noble parsonage is not particularly in love ana
not in the least romantic, but he has VII
enough to see that a handsome, generous re-
fined tender hearted and humble minded young
woman who never bores him would make an
| excellent marchioness. So come almost incred-
| ible glory and JOY to this bright English rose,
and she walks in dream. unspolled as
Griselda herself Thus runs Emilys maiden
wi grace
and Hghtness. more simplicity and humor than
Mrs Burnett has ever shown before
The volume dealing with the marchionesss
early married life is of another sort; 1t is as
luridly melodramatic its predecessor is nat
uraI and simple. When Walderhurst goes TO
India on a diplomatic errand, leaving his de-
ughtful bride behind, probability is sadly
strained; and when the wicked cousin, who is
his presumptive heir, and the cousins envious
wife and the cousins wife's murderous Indian
maid set bout to compass the destruction of
Lady Walderhurst and her dearest hopes, we
begin TO smell red fire and peanut shells we
acknowledge that of its kind it is well done
Nobody will put down the book until the mar
chioness, after her many trials and dangers, Is
seen to be coming back from the gates Of death
with a frightened and adoring husband beside
her and a bouncing little Lord Oswyth in the
! nursery. Truth TO tell. there is an overabundant
smell of fannels and pap added to that of the
red fire and the peanut shells. 1t is another
testimony to the fascination Of Emily's whole
some goodness. honesty and sweetness of nature
that her spell still fingers upon the reader as
the book is shut and the unreal melodrama is
half forgotten. The two stories are, from be-
ginning TO end, stories for women. The men,
bers Of the sterner sex who-unconstrained by
the eXigenCies of TeviewinS-may yet happen
upon this exposition of the fair Emiy's life
will read IL as men sometimes eat sweets
shamefaced protesting. but rather liking them
after all.
The first chapters Of Kate Bonnet" a lit
tie bewildering The reader does not know
whether Mr.. Stockton is going to write another
extravaganza is going to elaborate a serious
narrative. AS get deeper into the book
perceive that the author is going TO do neither
thing nor the other but is going to mngle
seriousness and fun in about equal proportions.
The heroine is blessed. or cursed. with a most
amazing father. This gentleman, a comfortable
planter in Barbados, has followed the plough
with the doclity OF a lamb. but suddenly makes
up his mind TO embark upon a career OF afro
cious piracy. He duly embarks. and poor Mis-
tress Kate, kept for some time in an agony OF
suspense over the true meaning Of his departure.
presently follows in his wake. unexpectant Of the
fantastic adventures which she is undertaking.
simple but gallant youth, rejoicing in the
truly romantic name OF Dickory, goes with the
deserted daughter. 1t is obvious that he means
to cling to her no matter where fate carries
them. Nevertheless. fate separates them for a
time, and it is only after many grievous epi-
sode that the lovers happily united. Side
by side with the tale of their struggles runs the
tale of Steve BOnnets mad career. At times
that career is very mad indeed. but always Mr.
Stockton relieves the grimness Of the record
with CLEANS Of his characteristic humor, and
though the reader is frequently moved to sorrow
by the pirates wckedness and sweet Kates
distress, he is moved quite as frequently 10
smiles The action is varied: half a dozen char
acters brought in to help matters along or
Obstruct them. for the three principal actors
and they are all interesting in one way or an
other. Ben Greenway, the devoted Scotch
henchman, who does his best to save the pirate
from himself, is one Of the authors quaintest
figures Mr.. Stockton has Steve Bonnet sum-
marily disposed of in due course but, in spite of
| the gloomy things that sometimes happen in it,
Kate Bonnet is a delightfully."- cheerful book
Mr.. Dalton has written in THE Role Of the
Unconquered" an historical romance which de-
spite some rather crude melodrania. ends by
leaving an agreeable impression. The story
deals with the courtship of Henry of Navarro
and Marie de Medici. the scene is laid partly in
France and partly on Italian soil and the ac-
tion, while involving various characters known
to history and based to a certain extent on ra
corded facts, ranges freely through situations
due to a lively imagination. The author is
lavish of dramatic surprises Daggers flash and
poisonous brews concocted All noannar oF
things happen, and it is not Mr. Dalton's farIt