The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-17
Some New Fiction.

The hand OF Mrs. FrancesH od9son Bur
nett has not lost Its cunning and the short
story or sermon, THE DAWN Of a Tomorrow"
Charles S~cribner's sons, Ia as artistic a
bit OF work as she has turned out Of late
years. There are "reminiscences Of Dickens
in it, a him OF Sorooge. q suggestion Of
the Marohioness, glimpses Of the blacker
London, with the more solemn and sordid
touches that modern realism demands, but
the story holds together, nothing foreign In
trudes and the sermon touches the hearers.
That we imagine, is all that can be asked
OF fiction that undertakes to teach a lesson.
There Is no harm in some excess Of pity
in these days, when charity Is organized
and more care is taken not to be deceived
than to give.
1t will not do TO take "The Golden Grey
bound by Dwight Tilton Gothrop, Lee
& Shepard Company, Boston,, seriously.
for 1t is a rather absurd medley Of advent
ure. II the reader will close his Dyes good
naturally, however, to the gaps In the
chain Of events he may find amusement
in q heller SHELTER story Of rapidly sue
oeeding incidents. The characters are
all rattle Drained, which helps TO keep UP
the mystery. In telling what happens,
which fortunately takes up the greater
part Of the book, the author writes simply
and directly. When be stops for breath,
however, and undertakes descriptions he
falls into the curious jargon which Is popu-
larly believed to be spoken by second rate
actors when of tho stage.
Another amusing tale OF the Hghtest
sort 10 @The Girl In Waiting by Archibald
Eyre (John W. Luce 4 Co., Boston,. It
Is as coherent as a British musical bur-
lesque. The beginning and two or three
incidents give hopes OF something much
better than the book yields. for it drops
into broad farce IN the slightest tempta-
ton. II thel author were not so anxious
to be funny he might have made. more Of
several clever ~predicaments he oontrives.
There Is too much Of the lost tiara In the
story and We rather think an audience
would tire Of 1t II the book were turned
into a stage farce.
An unusually bright short story by
Mr.. Jesse Lynch Williams has beer put
through q painful Procrustean ordeal in
THE Day dreamer" Charles scribner's
Sons). 1t was first turned into a play
story. The result Is disastrous artistically.
From "The Stolen Story some idea OF
life could be obtained, and the
ethical point was just touched upon. In
the expanded tale we get a lot Of cheap
melodrama, the newspaper men, including
the hero, become journalists of the vel
lowest hue, and the h~igh-handed pro-
cedure at the critical moment becomes
coarse brutality. 1t is a gross blunder
to turn the dishonest office boy into a
woman reporter. Perhaps 1t marks the
growing equality of the sexes forever to
scufle with women in public, as is done
twice In this book, and also In Mr.. Winston
Churohill's play, but it is In pretty bad
taste. Mr.. Wiliams's enlarged crayon
be a warning to young authors 10
we'll alone.
The English do have a wonderful knaok
OF describing lovely children. A new lot Of
delightful youngsters Is introduced by
Mrs. l.. Allen Harker in Concerning Paul
and Fiammetta' Charles Soribner's Sons),
q thoroughly restful and charming book.
The point Of view, to be sure, is that Of the
grownup who Is Watching the infant idea
as it shoots, but the incidents are quietly
humorous, the impressions Of English
home life are very pleasant, and through
the book there Is a tone Of good breed
ing that is uncommon in modern tales. 1t
oontrasts' queeriy with the ELUSIVE and
somewhat patronizing, though we'll meant
preface by Mrs, Kate Douglas wiggin.
A sort Of twentieth century 'Struwel-
peter" for the improvement of young women
only will be found in sThe Girls of Garden
ville,' by Carroll Watson Rankin Henry
Holt and Company. Each tale raps gently
some fault, but the sugar Of the story coats
the bitterness Of the moral very effectively.
The sins are not sucking fingers or playing
with matches, for these are nearly grown
up girls, and the punishments are not dras-
tic. The author has succeeded in making
stories interesting and in imparting
without any touch OF the goody
goody. All the eamei 1t lie strange how
cautious elders must be nowadays in teach
1,o,po Amarica what II ahollld not do. |