NEW BOOKS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 556, 10 July 1909, Page 9

NEW BOOKS.

Davrna." By Frances G. Burmester. Bell's Indian and Colonial Library. (Whitcombo and Tombs.)

If the reader is in search of a story ol quiet, sustained interest, a plot-well-con-ceived and carried out, and characters thai are alive and very full of human failings, ''Davina," by Frances G. Uurmoster, will ho found to contain all these things. The book opens with a discussion, between Joe Lawson,' a rich young man of property, and Davina .Browne, a schoolgirl of sixteen, ahoui tho accident that has befallen Bertha Gillespie, a step-cousin of Davina's. During a mixed game of hockey, Joe, in making a desperate attempt to get the ball away from his opponent, who happens to be Bertha, hit's nor, by accident, of course, or tho left -ear, with such violence that she falls to the ground insonsible. .Deafness in that ear, with a threatened loss of hearing in the other, is tho result, and Joe's peace of mind is a thing of the past. He trie! to make Davina promise to persuade hei father,' Admiral Browne, to allow him tc bear -the cost, of sending Bertha, who is a poor, relation, to Germany, to undergo s special treatment, but Davina says it is useless, and refuses to do so. Incidentally she reveals the fact that Bertha loves him, greatly to Joe's disturbance, as he does not love Bertha. vln the end he persuades himseli it is his duty to marry. her, though unconsciously loving Davina. After his marriage, he finds out that he has been wilfully deceived, deafness being an hereditary complaint in _his wife's family, and the accideni only precipitating it a little sooner. Davina had known, but had been trapped into a promise-not to tell. Hating Bertha, loving Joe herself, but wanting to be generous, she sacrificed herself and him. ..The' marriage is not a happy one, as Bertha turns oul to bo vain, shallow,- selfish,' and deceitful, She is persuaded to go to Germany to try this special treatment, but nothing can be done' and. deafness increases. She becomes jealous of Joe's friendship with Lady Anne Dryden, and later on of Davina, who is forced, by circumstances to live with her foi a wnile.lhis jealousy is fostered by a scoundrelly brother of Joei's, who uses hei to further his.own ends. A critical niomenl arrives for Davina, in which she is temptec' to throw up everything arid go off with Joe but Lady Anne interferes, and saves her fron herself. Jt is hardly fair to tell the •storj further,, but once the book is taken up, the reader is not likely to lose interest till the last page is.turned.-' . 'ITheModelling; of the Clay." By M. Urqu' ; hart. ; Bell's Indian- and Colonial Li- .' ■. brary.. (Whitcomboand Tombs.) ■ . '■, «' '7*° ' ° f fth » Clay" is not the hrst.novel that has como from the pen oi M. Urquhart, but what the authoFmaj have gained m tho way of distinction ol style and.literary power .since, writirig the hrst book is quite counterbalanced by the unpleasantness of, tho story that is now told. Tho keynote; is struck by, tho quotation ,on tho title pago of a. couple, of dines rrom John Davidson's i "Outcast": "With scorn, with'love, Affront the world.'.' Wher all is; said and done, it is nothing but a pernicious, attempt on the writer's part to palliate and extol the deliberate; setting aside on tho part of tho hero and heroine of al moral,laws,- of all restraint,- and the belittling .of those in the book who condemnee such abandonment. One cannot but regroi that a/clever writer should so misuse time and talent as to/>croato such very' undesirable characters and obnoxious situations.' "A Traitor's Wooing." By Headon Hill 1 London: Ward, Lock and Co. 2s. 6d. (L. and W. Mackay.)- '..'•'■; . .-■ ■ '.. ■When you pick up a book by Mr. Heador lull, you know that you arc in for some exciting reading, and that you must gird ur your., loins and take a deep breath, for the pace will be rapid. Mr. Hill's fashionabh heroes^and heroines and villains, are ciously vulgar: • Their language;isfabsurdh bombastic and unnatural. :But there is n! question of their capacity for.manufacturer ■tremendously exciting - situations.. .'Even one of.them might have stepped straight ou" of one of the plays .that Mr. William .Ander son produces for -ythe .'Australasian 'public 7 |A Traitor's Wooing" is 'an- Adelphi dram.' novelised. An Indian potentate, visitinc England/'falls in Hoyo with' Miss Maynard hut.;.is 'scornfully/rejected- by.-her; ; .He re tons , to.: India,full of / vengeful.'thoughts and eerHs, to/England a young"English offi cer who is in the isjervico with instruction: 'to' ■, capture /the /lady's ' and . : decoi her tovSindhkote. ■•" Theofficer, loath'ihg : thi scheme,;ia glad to -go to England and t< earn -his.fee, but ho really falls'in love witl Miss Maynard, and/determines to tlirpfl over the Prince and .his' villainous- agent .Trovers'. Nugent. ■■■ By contriving to brinj "the.. ; _tr3itor"..;urider suspioion of" .having committed a/certain murder,' Nugent contrives'to decoy him and Miss Maynard 01 'board;tho- Prince's; yacht. ■ The: friends . oi the ■ unfortunate young people .'contrive' t< discover Nugent's plot, and a'British war ship is dispatched in pursuit. The',yac_lil>T Which steams forty miles an hour!—is cap tured, Nugent "is stabbed by the real mur derer;a poor frenzied Frenchman, and tin reader, collecting-his wits -after the excitement ;fe over, hoars,- wedding bells- tinklinE in the; distance. The plot is highly ingeni ous at every point, and the thrills and sen sations, rattle along at even- more than the author's usual pace. . "The' Mantle .of Ishmael." By ■ J.'S.. Flet .-'. cher. : Bell's. Indian and Colonial Lib ;' ' rary.: 2s. 6d., (Whitcombe and Tombs. ■' In his latest novel, Mr. Fletcherhasdoubt less enjoyed'placing his Ishmael in the vercentre of British respectability and decorum in : Harlpy/Streetj, known afar for its sar geries and medical consulting rooms. 'There in a house painted black, live the -fashionabh and successful Dr. Van Mildart, his, witt'i and,handsome lady assistant, and his ricl niece. Tho .doctor's■ clothes are as remark able as his character: Ho Wears a "rathe' sporting-looking lounge suit of a distinct!large check," a pink ' and blue shirt, ani brown shoes. .'-He has brownish-yellov "fringed hair,"- wears dark spectacles, < an( has acquired a habit of holding.his head ii such a way that "his pointed Vandyke beare seemed to be a' torpedo directed ' againsl your heart." - A clerk named Ttichard Goul burn and his sister: Maisie inherit the wealtl of their eccentric bachelor uncle, and com( to -live next door to the sinister black house in Harley Street.. The reader learns how the two households become acquainted, anc rushes breathlessly''through pages' telling 0! hypnotism, a diamond robbery, / clair voyance,,'kidnapping,';a mysterious death, : bomb explosion,-, tho ..escape of Van Mildart arid the uncanny/disaster that finally overtakes him on board.'hi's. own yacht. :Mr Fletcher his certainly achieved his aim o' writing a sensational story to add to the shelf-full of his books that will bo found ir every circulating library, but rarely discovered among.the treasures of the lovers oi good literature. '■•'';■. • "Tho House of Mirth.", By Edith Wharton. y .London: Mr.cmillan.and Co. -7d. net. Most people who keep abreast of the besl of modern fiction have read Mrs. Wharton'* powerful study of' New York society. .11 conies, to us now, a pretty little book, oi pocket size, in blue cloth, being nne of the excellent sevenpeuny series issued by Mac millan. Like all the cheap issues of copyright novels,./it is ;wono«rf!il.. valuer • Oi course there is not much in the, way of margin, and tho type .is necessarily small, antl the papo.r.-thin.; Butthe type : -is-very- clear and the,-paper/tough and perfectly opaque! The present edition-will perform the useful service /of making r,oquainted with Mrs. Wharton a very large number of readers whe have hitherto not been able to secure the book.■.-.,Macmillan and (J!o. are to bo congratulated on their enterprise, and wo can also express the hope that along with the other firms issuing cheap reprints they will continue to. provide the public with many more such good book bargains.