New-York tribune., 1902-10-26
FICTION.
MIR +. norKlNsoN SMITHS BEST ho"N

Nj. +. HorKINsoN SMITHS BEST Ho"N-
THE FORTUNES or OLIVER H2iiT Sii1 by yAppiedn h,pn
kinson smith lllusifa'eSIa fSa ~ pSS.h"rIas Scribners
Sons
CONFESSIONS OF \ WIFE, ry ma Mary ,,d Ad"m5 ms
With iio iIustTaiiGns 3t4TT Egmnahy eg oiritaE
OK FORTUNES ROAD sto-eS OF bTsinfTs arsiTs Iy y
viii Payne With eight tuii.p''E' "l HI''","- =?
Thomas FoGarty l2mo pp. ~ '"iC'so' - -
McCIurg x Co
CHILDREN or THE Frost i{ Jish iday i'lsIIIl lsmn
with Illustrations by Raphael NJ lt'aS- 1-ii''
pp. VII 26l Tho Macmillan Com'""H'
...be Fortunes of oliver Horn" is the best
story Mi smith has ever written II Is St'u III
tho book. as it has been said OF some "I IT'S
predecessors that Il embodics. IL certain
.xtent the authors recollectons Of people ana
incidents he has known. but its merit lies IN th'
possession OF qualities much higher IMAM 'h"S'
needfuI in the mere retailing OF personal eNiV-
rlences Mr. Smith succeeds here We pe'e'e
not because he draws upon specihe memories
hut because human nature at large mas lelI l'9
IMPRESSION upon his mind. The hero may nave
some OF the traits of a friend in the past put
We are Interested in him because ne mas so many
others that are recognizable in the life Of to
day. and will always he At the service OF the
novelist who has the Wit To perceive them The
s,ann Of n . story is laid in a Southern city IN
the sixties The war breaks out in the course
of the narrative but. with artistic reticence
for which the author cannot be too warmly
PRAISED the subject has hardly been introduced
before it is reIinquishcd. Tn" great tragedy Is
rot revived in these IaEes TO make = mover
readers holiday its skirts Just brush the his
tory Of oliver and his family. bringing an elr-
Ileut into the situation which is the more
cncctiv. because il is SO discr.etly handled
What Sir. Smith wa ats especially to MAKE us
feel is the charm Of oliver Horns character.
While he fills the book with old fashioned s"nt-
iucut. sketchiug more than one type Of the old
south. pr,judiced ana generous. natural and
stately. cxasperatinc and loyab,e. ne IS always
making us see the human weakness and
strength of a young man who may he "a south
,.ru.r Lul is also in the best and widest sense
an American. If Oliver seems ~ times too much
OF a mothers boy" and even bit Of a prg, 1t
Is because he carries some OF the manners Of an
earlier generation, a fact which somehow IN
these days of queer courtesy. Ne cannot aito-
..ther regret. Furthermore. beneath the sur
it,.. tnis rather old world young fellow reveals
the iuauIiuess and simple. straightforward char
aeJ-r which, in spite of modern ways, is not
dead Vet In short, this portrait Of an artist
rising to cmineuce in his profession through hard
work and erievous trials is full of vitality, il
l.. romantic but thoroughly true to nature. The
background for his adycuturvs is drawn now
from "a beautiful old square ia the Southern
t.tr and now from Bohemian NcW-Iork The
quiet life Of men and women to whom art is
mystery when it is not ii thing at which to look
#.h,}oe IS painted with no less sympathy than
th. aathor shows in the glimpses he gives us
of the painters OF thirty years ago. at elbows,
sl.l-r. and utterly devoted to their work. one
tnu.n IN Mr. Smiths admirable canvas We re-
no fhfr1 divers mother