The Savannah morning news., 1904-03-27
BOOK REVIEWS
AND
LITERARY NOTES

In the Red Hills. By Elliott Crayton
McCants. Cloth binding; illustrat-
ed: PIP. $40. New York: Double
day Page g. Co, 133-137 East Six
Jeenth street. Price. $3.50.
BY the same process of reasoning that
Miss Glasgow's very successful novel.
The Deliverance," has been called a
story Of the tobacco fields, this novel
ought to be called a story of the corn
fields. Indeed, it rather more deserves
the characterization since the decora-
tors have put a half dozen or so ears
of ripe corn on the binding. and there
is quite as much of the corn field at
mospheTe in the Red Hills" as there
is OF the tobacco field atmosphere in
the other story. There is. by the way,
the~ suggestion of a parallel between
the two stories, insofar as plot Is con-
cerned. In each the hero. defrz u6ed
of his rightful inheritance. makes
plucky, admirable fight against odds,
and finally wins. In each the hero. .
big, handsome fellow, cOnpels atVsl-
ton and sympathy. And the parallel
extends to the women, too. who All
illustrate the best traditions OF the
South, each in her sphere. Mr.. Nc
Cants, furthermore. has written or
about the same period Of time as did
Miss Glasgow-the years succeeding
the great Civil War, when reconstruc-
ton politically and rehabilitation ma
terially presented to the impoverished
people of the South problems hardly
less exacting than those of the war it
self.
The scenes of Mr.. McCants' story
are laid in South Carolina. the princi-
pal action occurring in the seventies
and eighties. What strenuous times
those were can he readily be recalled
by people just now entering middle
life The characters are truly drawn,
and their types will be recognized by
those familiar with Southern affairs
during the period named. Billy May
son." the hero, is strikingly representa-
tive Of the generation of Southerners,
sons of old families, to grow up after
the war and strive manfully, to regain
that which had been lost by the for
tunes of war and through the sharp
practices of the unpTincipled men who
preyed upon the people afterwards.
After the first chapter or two, en-
ployed in laying the groundwork for
the story, the narrative moves rapidly
and dramatically and yet naturally
enough considering time and place.
BILLY" has some remarkable adven-
lures, but their counterparts may be
found in the newspaper reports and 10
cal stories of the South Carolina up
country of those days. A feature that
will be appreciated is the exposition of
the feeling existing between the negro
race and the former slave owners,
even years after the war. That the
most intense race prejudices was felt,
on the one side by. and on the other
side for. the non-slave owning whites
is an acknowledged fact. How and
why there was respect and mutual af-
fection between former masters and
former slaves is in some part shown in
this story. This. we are told, is Mr.
McCants first novel. 1t gives good
promise that he will be heard from
again. 1t is of real merit.
The Stolen Emperor. By Mrs. Hugh
Fraser. Blue Muslin cover, deco
rated in red and black; PIP. 32s. New
York Dodd, Mead & Co. Price,
$3.50.
In view Of events in the Far East,
this is a timely tale. And not only
that, but it is artistically told. Mrs.
Fraser is a member Of a family of
more than ordinary literary talent. no
small part of which has been deveI-
oped in her. The sister Of f. Marion
Crawford, she writes not less charm
ingly than her distinguished brother
IN the stolen Emperor" a Japanese
SiIc taAcs the reader INTO the
Land of the Rising Sun and there sur
ROUNDS him (or herr with the charm
and delicate beauty of the delightfully."-
little Oriental people whom artists and
writer's have conspired to teach us to
admire. Indeed. one cannot help won
oering If, really, the japanese are SO
nneiy attuned to the picturesque and
tne beautiful as our writers would
have US believe. Have they not in
deed, idealized these lately, heniot,tal
heathen and drawn them in the perfec-
tlon OF their serene and appreciative
temperament from their own concep-
uons OF what the Japanese might be