New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-01-23
Il Group Of Recent Novets 0y
American authors.

sAPPHO IL BOS1O-N- A1A4O' P|-
RosNAH By Myra Kelly. illustrated sg Wal /
lace Morgan i2mo. pp- ssS- = 4pi''e''''
THE SILVER cLEEK By John csIP9eSll, Ella. Hayi
wood Illustrated. i2mo Pr 80
THE SILVER BUTTERFLY. By Ms crn M1tSe4
weoaEow Illustrated at ,t 3 4 Fee BobsserTili
6 5or1Hs1i --'-'' -
In ~The Palace OF Danger the Marauise De
Pornpedour figures as the central character. inc
precariousness OF her hold upon the ahecuoils u
her royal lover IS due not only TO the capr1clous
ness OF royal hearts. but also II appears 10 NI4
Gus daring indiscretions on the faVorl'es par
which give abundant occasion for suspicion sAiu
jealousy. Such for example is the secret mar
borage she affords IN an interior apartment OF
Bellevue to the Cornte de Vrie. rejected sui'or'
Startled IN tie very midst Of his wooing by the
entrance OF the King the count had been forced
n make his escape by way Of a high balcony
and his leap into the shrubbery below had as
abled him Hence the Pompadour's perilous Sue
cor and hence. too. most picturesque ana sen
sationai frnbroglio with Louis, when by accioenI
he discovers the presence Of the count N me
ls6y's apartment-the more so that the count han
been banished from court and reported as dead
-,sce -r,redjcayoent this for La Pompadour, who.
after long estrangement, has but just regaineo
her sway over the King; ard it would he hard
4he one rrovided bv Miss Wagnalls. II is pity
that she should not possess along With facility o.
snventioz the dash and dramatic elan Of born
story teller There is good material IN ''Ihe
Palace Of Danger There is gay count TORN
between two loves; there is a stable boy VINO
bears a most deceptive resemblance TO hinl'
save for the fact that a spoken word will Ger
4ainl,- betrav him: there is a deInure damsel
freshly out Of St Cyl, who wears the en-
broidered kerchief of her cavalier round her 1alF
Young neck Thereby hangs a tale); there is
faithful squire, lie Moyne. whose devotion 10
his stricken master is paid for with great
--;,a ana hehfn6 all IS the frivolous, kaleido-
soon;c. Intriguing life Of the court Of Louis
,o,,inze Il NAV be due to the authors scrupu-
1ousness that her narrative seems never to take
wings and fv She is sadly in error II she
deems it meritorious TO make the main feat
11res Of her tale correspond exactly with the
dates Of the chronological chart which she
thoughtfuIly appends- Conscience is distinct
embodiment when it comes to storTning the gates
Of romance: and We trust that before she makes
another assault she viii have buried II ten
fathoms deep
T-noonrnonlv clever IS "Saprho in Boston, q
romance OF anonymous authorship The title is
q rnisnomer It suggests spectacle Of naught-
ness invading the stronghoIds Of prudeTy and
C-ul1,,re q suggestion not at all borne out by
The story The hero a gallant English aristo-
Graf named DerelJ Waqshot, discovers that the
face Of his inaInorata strangely corresponds 10
the ideal he has always entertained Of the
st9ried Grecian lady: hut beyond that. and some
talk Of the Daudet play there is little OF
Sa2phic favor. Furthermore. the Boston OF our
anonymous annalst is refreshingly un-Boston-
ian not at ali the buestocking town that myth
and slanderous tongues have created. but hab-
md xrea1fh of its
gast but chiefly bent upon enjoying the present
moment as fully as possible Clearly the author
Knows his Boston well and, setting traditions at
naught. has the courage TO love II as ii IS He
has devised a plot with enough mystery and
suspense TO keep the reader on the scent but
he is at his best IN his dialogue, which often has
the effervescent sparkle Of the seller with a
favor fancied by WaPshot. He is at his sec
ord best liz drawing his characters He draws
them neatly distinctly and with relish. Patricia
Pie-pont. the heroine in distress. proud, auda-
cious. adorable and unhappy might well lead
q more phlegmatic human male than the
authors English peer into trouble. And there
Is e parsonage nicknarned Solomon Peperel of
beacon Hill who jUEgies diamonds on the Com
mon and goes the whole gamut Of amusing i'm
pertinences in his treatment Of everybody The
reaaeE-in search of entertainment will not be
sent away empty handed
The premises Of Myra Kelly's new novel are
deleotably absurd. yet they are so tactfuly set
ferr1a that. the reader accepts them almost be-
fore he knows what hes about. Imagine q
cignfhed. excessively Anglo-Saxon pair of pa
rents returning. after residence If India to their
native land. also a goodly number OF grown-up
child7en-sons and a daughters gathering from
the fQsr quarters Of the British Isles Cend
from Paris to greet them. Formal introduc-
ions by the butter are required, for since baby
aEad parents and offspring have been separated.
sons are brought In, az five minute intervals:
Desmond. grave scholar from London: Gerald.
she Partisan with all the emphatic Inannerisms
and intonations Of the JoUlcUGrdier: Lowell. the
horsy brother. devotee OF turf and chase; Owen.
the idealist with a hectic flush IN white cheeks:
ard last Sheilah who is thus described:
Ana surely the figure which stood upon the
threshold might have upset the decorun OF a more
perfectly trained footman if the heart beneath his
lsery were Irish. Her coppery hair piled
high upon her dainty head; her soft shoulders
rare and cloud Of pink trailed round her. A few
steps forward into the room she came and then
Very softly the General swore
a very different type is this Sheialf from the
rest &C the family, despite a desperate resem-
blsnce traced by the General between daughter
and deceased grandmother. The fact is (as the
reader has long been fnforned) that Sheilah is
not Sheilah. but Lady Rosnah Creighton Shei-
labs true and loyal friend. That headstrong
young MINK had fatty refused TO quit her sweet
heart IL rural Ireland merely for the tiresome
dztr of making acquaintance with her nearest
q kin ard. on the inspiration LADY Rosnab had
saved the day. The many embarras sins and
amusing incidents that this risky masquerade
produces can be readily surmised. and the author
makes the most Of her opportunities Possibly
the comedy is a trfIle drawn out, possibly the
Pets he leaS