"U T U."

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 248, 17 October 1894, Page 3

"U T U."

"Urc," the Maori term for payment or revenge, is the title of a well written little story which has just made its appearance amongst colonial publications. Replete with incidents of an intensely interesting character taken from real life, and from reliable records of the history of Maori life and customs aboub the end of last' century, the story sustains the interest of the reader almost from the opening chapter till the final words. Theconatructionis so skilfully arranged thab one cannoti resist taking a certain scientific as' well as dramatic interest in watching how each incident inevitably leads to the next, and how the plot gradually thickens till the time for the final coups de. grace ia reached. ' In writing this little volume, which is dedicated to Sir George Grey, the author has certainly produced a book which will amuse, and in some measure instruct, the thousands who will be anxious to read it. and it is nob too mnch to say she has at once taken a prominent) place amongst) colonial novelists. In language thab in itself has quite a charm about it, the story relates how a rejected suitor for the band of a rich heiress in the Old Country carries out .with grim mercilessness his revenge upon everyone who has been concerned in bis humiliation, and then endeavours to escape from, justice by accompanying a French exploration party to New Zealand which at the time referred to in the story, is a newly-founded colony and inhabited only by the Maoris. The merciless crimes which the principal character is credited with are in turn avenged at the hands of the heiress herself, whom he imagined he had quietly disposed of by dragging her previous to bis escape from England, bub who subsequently recovere, and mysteriously " turns up again " as a member of the party on its way to the South Seas. In the disguise of a valet, the young lady has gained admission whilst in Paris into the service of her father's murderer, and after their arrival ab the Bay of Islands, proceeds, with the aid of a confederate, to put her plan of revenge into effect. The last twenty chapters contain a minute description of ancient Maori life, deftly brought in to render the story of more than ordinary interest to New Zealanders. The work, which has been printed at the Star Office, bo far promises to command an extensive circulation.

The " Wanganui Herald" of August 23rd says:—" 'Utu : A Story of Love, Hate, and Revenge,.' by Tua-o-Rangi, a well-known Wanganui resident, whose literary ability is fully displayed in the interesting pages of 1 Utu,' and is dedicated to the Right Hon. Sir G. Groy, K.C.B. Of a most sensational type, the story is powerfully written, and, as the title indicates, revenge or payment denotes the ruling motive of the tale. The plot is first of all laid in England, and gradually developing, is worked out in the colony—nob as we know it to-day when peace and prosperity reign, bub- iq the olden days, when the Maori was king of the soil in his own right, and when the native customs were carried out in all their fierce savagery. The situations throughout are of the most exciting nature, and yet in holding the mirror up to Nature there is no attempt ab straining for efl'ecb by introducing highly-coloured romance, yet sufficiently thrilling to inspire that feeling engendered by awe-inspiring word pictures of Maori life in early days of New Zealand's history. A characteristic feature of'the work is the artistic imagination with which Mr Kenneth Watkinshaa endowed the really excellent and large number of illustrations profusely scattered throughout, and certainly the effect is materially enhanced thereby. With regard to the letterpress—the book ia in handy octavo form—too much praise can hardly be given for the excellence of the workmanship, "and in general get-up and appearance is highly creditable. The published price is only one shilling, and the local booksellers—Messrs A. D. Willis and H. I. Jones and Son—are now fully supplied with copies, for which there is naturally an eager demand. The book, it may be mentioned, is having a particularly large sale throughout tbe North and South Islands, and is being published simultaneously in England."