SOME RECENT FICTION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 58, 1 December 1917, Page 13

SOME RECENT FICTION

Pelican Pool. Mr. Sydney do Longhe, the author of that admirable war book, "Tho Straits Impregnable," is to be congratulated upon having written an exceptionally good novel of Australian life, "Pelican Pool" (Angus and Robertson, per S. and AV. Mackay). Mr. do Longho is, I understand, personally well acquainted with what is called the Gulf Country of Northern Queensland, and one of the best features of his novel is tho vividily of its local colour. Tho author has a distinct gift for realistic transcription of natural scenes. The background of the story is alternately Surprizo Valley, a copper mining camp, wlicro dwell tho Nevilles, father and <lihirlitor, and Pelican Pool, a dismal lil.ilo hole where a prospector mimed (Iregory is camped, with hiii shnnvisli wifo and handsome daughter. Moll Gregory is illiterate and coitnie tongued, almost a pagan as lo morals, hut she possesses the supremely a toning gift of quite remarkable beauty. And so to Pelican Pool Micro wiiiicm, at first by accident, and Inter, mi if magnetised, the wealthy yoimg tilnl.ionholder, Power, who is i!ii(-;n|/.i'd In Maud Neville, who loves him rnnnl. devotedly. There aro oilier miili)i'ii-™ the accountant of the Siii'|ii'i/.(i mine, and Mick O'Neill, ii handsome young stockman in Power's employ, The time comes when Maud Neville Iciirini of her fiance's infal.ual.inii. She in n cool, clever woman, and site cimiholch lici ,j self with tho thought that passion nmy havo its day, hut Mini Iruclovo innul] win. To recount l-ho worltini/, out of Power's passion for the lovely vnilllf. barbarian of Pelican Pool would liiko too long, but sullico it to nay llmli poor Moll's romance ends in Impcily, and that Maud Neville gols hack hot' lover. There is some fine olianiotor drawing in this story. Tho vnriollH members of the queer litllo community at Surprize Valley aro sharply mid convincingly drawn, and tho menial struggles of both Power and Maud Neville are exceptionally clever (iludicii in psychology. As a picture of Mio every-day life in the far north »f Australia, of the awful moiiolonv and dreariness of existence for cultivated people in such lost corners of civilisation as Surprize Valley, "Pelican Pool" is by far the motif. readable and convincinc story wo have yet hud from an Australian author. Mr. do Longlio's future work will l») eagerly awaited, not only in Australia, but, so I venture lo prodiot, in London. His first effort in fiction is ono of quite remarkable merit. Tho Road to Understanding,

In "The Float] lo Understanding' (Constable and Co., per Cicorg.' linbertsou) Eleanor 11. Porter, author «' "Poly-miia" and "Just David," gives us what she herself entitles "a wire love story." The son of » wealthy American millowncr marries, much against his father's will, a pretty hut uneducated girl, nurl is deprived of the parental allowance. Me goes In work in his father's mill. Imt hoth wi « and husband have been thoroughly spoilt as children and cannot face adversity. A jarring note is soon struck, and the pair separate, the millionaire taking his sou off to Alaska, and sending the wife a cheque for ten thousand dollars. At first tho wife considers the ehonuo an insult, but eventually she decides to keep the money and spend it on her own education and that of her infant daughter. She goes In Europe, and after some years returns a highlv-cultivatcd and still beautiful woman. How the -daughter brings the long separated pair together again, and bow a reconciliation is

effected, I inosfc not toll. Tho story is as sentirnßintal- as the most devoted admirer of this- particular kind of American licbicm could desiro.

Tho Black Offioo,

Mr. and Mrs". Egcrton Cnstlo never fail to dulorest and ontortain thoir readers, and tluiir latost effort, a collection of storie.i, entitled "The Black Oflice, and lotliur Chapters of Ronianco:' (John Murray; per Whitcombe and Tombs) well sustains the excellent reputation of the clever collaboratenrs. Tho perilid of the stories is "•'Epooue Romaittiquo," as it is still callca in France, namely, the decade or two which followed the great AngloFrench peace, a hundred' years ago, The characters nutl incidents in these stories are almost; as much Gallic as British, for frkinilly intercourse was then being resume.!! between countries ton 10113 estrancdd. The titlo ator.v is really a brilliant piece- of work, dealing as it does with the secret censorship, this Cabinet Nbir, which was established for poli'tical purposes by tlio Grand Monarquit, and which was onlv wiped out in .1830. Another story, "The Red Kilns of Amblemont," lias its motif in the smuggling of gold, wliicli was carried on with Franco after the Napoleonftt: wars. In a third, "Tho Roßiirrei'stionist," wo have a grim and gruesonne picture of low life in Edinburgh duriiu; the Burke and Hare period. Another.. "The Arresting I'oint," provides a vivacious and amusing account of the pnH played in the rescuing of a Jacobil u by a young Scotsman: whilst othrir stories deal with tlio "gentlemen cf tlie road" and their adventures. The si dries, or novels in miniaturo, aro all very, readable.

Married Llfo. May Edgington's now story, "Married Life, or the True lU'iUance" (Gassell and Co., per S. and W. Mackay), may seem, in certain chatvAers, to support "Punch's" famous aaUico to those aboutto marry—"Dou't"— -hut although the young couple, who at fl rst find married life in a tiny flat on a stnall income one long succession of litsfcl'o miseries, pass through somo very ■disagreeable experiences, each being heartily relieved when tho husband has tt<o go on a business trip to America, ' overything comes right in tho end. Mis 6 Edgington has a light, vivacious style, and although tlie story more than ojuic threatens to becomo a trifto thin, iti' .livens up remarkably towards the end, ai)d makes very pleasant reading.