NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10863, 12 January 1901, Page 8

NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

"To Italy ihe beloved and beautiful, m structress of our past, delight of our presjent, comrade of our future:—The heart o| an Englishwoman." Such is the dedication of Mrs Humphry Ward's latest novel, "Eleanor." We thought her painting cd Paris and life in the Latin Quarter very clever: her pictures of Cumberland peo-plt and Cumberland scenery unapproachable. We have to confess, however, utter reading' "Eleanor," that here" her power, of descrip.tion is to be seen at its best, so w_ll does she reproduce for us the scenery aud the witching atmosphere of Italy—so delicate and yet faithful are her vignettes of Italian types of character. The background of the story is all that could be desired, and the story itself will be admitted by all jts leaders as perhaps the most chastened and effective piece of work that. Mrs Humphry Ward has yet given to the world. The action takes place liir the most part in Rome'or'its immediate neighbourhood. At the outset we are introduced to Edward Manisty, an English literary genius, no longer in his first youth, extraordinarily handsome, so far as the head was concerned, but of a somewhat irregular and stunted figure. His is a complex personality, wayward and capricious, yet exerting a magnetic attraction over all who are brought within his contact. He is travelling with his aunt, Miss Manisty, and a widowed cousin, Mrs Burgoyne—the "Eleanor" of the title. The latter is as unconventional and as complex a study of character as Edward Manisty, and is, we think, mere natural. We are told that she was not beautiful except in the judgment of a few exceptional people to whom a certain kind of grace—very rare and very complex in its origin—is of more importance than other things. Hers "was a fa« oi experience, a face of grief: timid, yet with many strange capacitie. and suggestions both of vehemence and pride. It could still tremble with youth and-de-light. But in general it held the world aloof. Mrs. Burgoyne was not very far from "thirty, and -either physical weakness, or the presence of some enemy within, more destructive still, had _mplia«i*ed the loss of youth. At the same time she had still a voice, a hand, a.carriage that lovelier women had often euvied, discerning in them those subtleties of race and personality which are not to be rivalled for the asking." To this little travelling party there comes by invitation, on American girl. Lucy Fos* ter, dowdily dressed, yet very charm_n|, who read Virgil and Horace, yet had cvmous limitations of knowledge regarding really elementary subjects. Edward Manisty is at first annoyed at the. visit, which the party have been " let in for," as people say. In the new surroundings ia which she ia placed, tlie superficial awkwardness of Lucy soon disappears her beauty shines forth, her charms of intellect and soul make themselves apparent. Both women are devoted to Manisty, and his affections, after swaying to first one then tha other, become finally fixed in the way that most of our readers "will probably guess for themselves. To sketch the plot, however, is only to give the feeblest idea of ths real excellence of the book. Its great and abiding beauty and strength consist in the studies of the two women, their struggles, their -affections, their sufferings, and tha sad end of it all. Taken altogether, it i_ a fine and ennobling book—in marked contrast to the mawkish emotion and tawdry sensationalism which some modern writers consider the best kind of intellectual food to cast into the greedy maw of the unthinking multitude. (London: Mucinillaii and Co.'s Colonial Library. Christchurch: Fountain Barber, 3s 6d and 2s od.)

"The Men of ths Merchant Service," by Mr Frank T. Bullen, to which we have referred in our leading columns to-day. is a book of local, as weM as general, interest in New Zealand. The author, who has risen from a foremast" hand, to be one of the most distingads-ted writers of the day, served a part of .his sea life in these waters. There are many autobiographical touches in the book, and not a few of them refer to New Zealand, or to the intercolonial service with Australia, of -which. Mi* Bullen evidently had some experience. He tells us that he joined his first ship as second mate in Port Lyttelton, the Bulwark, of 1300 tons, -..longing to Shaw, Savill, and Co. "Her master," ihe says, "was an olderly gentleman named Seator, one of the most lovable of men, and withal a first-rate seaman. He received mc as if I had been _ veteran, instead of a man com* in straight from the fo'e'sle." There is a story of a stewardess in tlie book which we fancy refers to somo* thing which occurred in these waters. Mr Bullen speaks of her as one of the most accomplishsd women he ever met. Wh.n'he first saw her she was a passenger on board the ship on which he served, and was "going out to that far country with a little capital to prove to a sceptical world that a lad- who could ride, shoot, swim, and run a farm as well as play the piano, sing, paint, and talk scv.ral languages, could -make her way alone in a new world as well as any man." But fortune was unkind to her, and she failed in those days. "Then,'' he continues,--"she took a stewardess's b.rtls in a coasting steamer that carried soffi. hundreds of passengers from port to port around one of the stormiest coasts in the world. We met again when she had been at this for some months, and she had aged ten years in appearance. She was wearj of life by her look, but she made no moan, 'then, in an awful gale, her ship went ashori on an outlying reef. There were uin.tj - femdle passengers on board, whom she considered a sacred charge. That charge sli. fulfilled. seeing them all safely boated away, while she retired to her cabin, and locked h-31'self in to meet the death that she had prown to look upon as a delivering friend.'' (London: Maemillan's Colonial Library Ciiristchurch: Messrs Simpson and Wil hams, 2s 6d.)

"Joan Brotherhood," by Bernard Capes, is a somewhat peculiar book. The heroinis a girl living in a village in Hampshire. She was a waif picked up from the sea, and as she grows up becomes seized with a strong desire to go on the stage. This predilection for a theatrical life is the means of getting her into some trouble, and she pets involved in relations of an undesirable kind with a well-connected but unprincipled young man who persuades her to go up ta London. Tlie book is dedicated to Mis« Ada Ferra-r. (London: G. Bell and Sons Colonial Library. Ciiristchurch: Whit c* mbe and Tombs, 2s 6d,)

In "The Madness of David Baring," Ml Joseph Hocking has struck out a new line. Instead of running a tilt this time against the Church.of Rome, he takes up his parable against the teaching and practice of tho Socialists. The hero, an undergraduate at Cambridge, has a fortune left him by an uncle. He finds out. that the latter made his . money by sweating his workpeople, exacting usurious interest from needy borrowers, aud other questionable means. " While.he « feeling very uncomfortable owing to tbes« discoveries, be gets into serious conversation with a college chum, named Langford, * Socialist, and is much impressed by the arguments used by the latter. Ultimately, David decides to renounce his fortune and enter a; Socialistic community, known as the Brotherhood Settlement. Socialism in actual practice, however, is found to be very different from Socialism in theory. Agood many oif the "brethren" prove incorrigible ___ loafers.,' and the climax is reached when David ftnds the practice of "free love" being established in the community. He comes to ther conclusion that Socialistic theories might {answer very well if human nature where perfect, but that they are outof pla|e the world being what it is, a»<that ojhly the teaching of Christianity can make t_h<_ world better. The inevitable love story 4 X of course, introduced into -J-° book.| (London: Hodder and Stonghtcn. Christchurch: Fountain Barber, 2s 6d.)

Sixisimv editions still continue to iss& from |he press in tempt-in*!; profusion, «na most |>f them are wonderful value for **« , monef- Mr Fountain Barber sends us to* folio-fine:—"The Captain of the Vulture,. ; by J| __. Braddon (Lcndon: Downey anc . Co.) I '-The Fascination of the King, °. ■ -Guyfßoothbv (London: Wait!, Lfkf™Co.) I "The Reproach of Aunesley, by 31axw9ll|Qray (London: George NewnesK, "Woi| aII Against Woman," by Flown*----

Marryat (Lwdon: Hutchinson and Co.)r and '"Brown. V.G.,"' by Mrs Alexander (London: T. Fisher Ufiwln). Any one of these would have been considered cheap at l_tlf-a<->"_sW-. a few .months ago.