BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13925, 5 December 1908, Page 5 (Supplement)

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS

— • > My Story: By Hall Caine. Willians ' Heinemann, London. Mr. Hall Caine cat given, to the reading public one of the most valuable of biographies, > valuable - not so much for what he tells us of himself, in- . teresting as that is, but for what he tells us of others, particularly of his friend ' Dante Rossetti. His evident desire is to vindicate the memory of a man "of"rare' ':■■'■'< genius . from false " aspersions; he , holds tlhat there is little or no-■ ■>"»■ thing to r conceal, and .the" light that he throws upon the episode is such as ' ; to place Rossetti in a much' more favourable aspect than many have regarded him. ."'; Mr. Caine probably knew Rossetti more intimately than any other man living; he ha» formed a great estimate of ! his genius, ai estimate which is shared by many compel ; : : ent critics, arid it is pleasant, to find -ha/ ' he has a no less high opinion of his chap acter. Everyone-who knows aught '.of th« v poet . knows that he gave way.:to! melan- ■■ choly, and his wife died in circumstancessuggestive of suicide, and that during his later years he was himself a - victim to chloral. Mr. Caine attributes the poet's: '- domestic unhappiness to his mistaken conscientiousness. Shortly before his marriage he found himself deeply enamoured V of another woman, but instead of breaking; / his engagement, deemed himself in honour " bound to fulfil it, and his.*wife's womanly vinstinct divined the truth too late. After ' his wife's tragic death he buried with lev the manuscript of the famous sonnets written to her before a cloud, came between them. In order to regain the sole copy ' of his finest work Rossetti, half a genera-v ; | tion later, obtained permission to have the, coffin exhumed, and this led to the out- : break of popular feeling, which broke his sensitive heart. In later years Mr. Hall Caine beeame intimate with Robert Buchanan, the one-time bitter critic of Rossetti, and narrates with sympathy Rossetti* kindly feelings at reading Buchanan's generous amend in the dedication of "God and . the f Man." ; / '-'■■ ■■'■■-■" [

Further Experiences of an Irish R.M.: By E. (E. Somerville and .Martin RO6S. With 35 illustrations. ; Longmans, , Green, and Co., London.— who were somewhat disappointed with the'previous, "Some Experiences of an Irish R.M." need : • not _be afraid of reading the latest set of stories, which is immeasurably superior fee . its predecessors. Apparently .the author* have at last got into a stride, and reduced the telling of the Irish story to an English art. : They have a fine taste for sport, and the story of the chase of the "pug-nosed .; a fox," which takes first place in this group of sketches, : abounds in surprises, and in, : the richest humour of that quality which is found only on Irish soil. Even more amaz- 1 ' ing is " A Conspiracy of Silence." The central character ;in this little episode, Mr. Jeremiah Flynn, fanner and cattle-dealer, also district councillor, of Knockeenbwee, is a decided addition to the characters in fiction that secure a lodging place in one's ,- • memory. i Altogether there s are 12 short sketches, and stories and illustrations alike are worthy of the reputation of the joint authors. ■ ~ ','•'' The Magnate : By Robert Elson. W. Heinemann, London. —The heroine of this distinctly readable story is a beautiful lady .-■ help, who meets a great millionaire on tlia Ilfrecombe sands, without knowing who he is. Up to this time her beauty has only been a curse, for ".if .you are poor it is only safe to be ugly." She is entirely virginal' and quite undeveloped. She hates the beauty which draws upon her the perpetual attention of men. Her life is inexpressibly sordid 'arid revqlting/iyet^whsa, Holden offers her a' way df- escape-; she hesitates, -and finally consents*to'marrv;him on a purely platonic'basis." ■They, are to live as " brother • and sister.'•- John-;air: rbiiiids b'< bride with the evidences of/ his. wealth, and site accepts, without a murmur. .>■ : Like Cindss-filla, 'she becomes at once ; the centre of all imaginable splendour, and sha accepts it as to the manner born, acknow- ' ledging no debt to the fairy godmother. Her beauty justifies his choice in; the eyes, of men and even women. Her heartless folly and extravagance show him' the danger of his experiment. She plays "with he. She flaunts her husband's wealth. She defies the women. She flirts with the* men, avenging herself for the wrongs received ' , from both' sexes. And John stands by waiting the success or failure- of his great a xr \periment, and finally scores a win, for she. learns to love him for himself. The Sunny Side of the Hill : By Rose . Nonchette Carey. Macmillan and -. Co., Ltd., London.-—Miss" Carey always tells as lof sweet and charming old maids, : whose ' j lives are passed in pleasant places, with just enough trouble to spice existence, and of the great middle-class which has been ••; called "the backbone, of England." 13 likely; to ■; be among the more popular oV her stories, for it is packed full of peasant - platitudes, and deals with life'as it ought to bo - among comfortable people. Miisa Brydon, the maiden aunt, has inherited ;a comfortable income, and invites a niece to live with her, and the niece- meets: ayouag man of the good, old ferocious school ; : and a nephew of, the maiden aunt meets a rich beauty; and the maiden aunt herself knows ; a rich old bachelor, ;who dies" nicely, and leaves her all his money. And it is all very pleasant and cheerful, -and as it should be. ' - Mamma : By Rhoda Broughton. . Macmillan and Co., London.Miss Broughtoc writes with a pen which is occasionally dipped in gall, and dipped quite frequently ;; '■{,'■,:o upon this particular occasion. "wJmnia" is a most selfish and objectionable' old woman of 70, who poses as a ■-sweet in- ; valid; and all the while is making use of everybody, especially of her -daughter, Lucie. Long before, when Lucie was a girl, a young fellow had loved her, and she had loved him, but "Mamma" had !threatened. ' to* die, and the rest of the family had raved about Lucie's beartlesshess, until the girl sent her lover away, and settled down to the drudgery: of nursing a selfish invalid. The members of this pleasant fami- . ly are briskly and sharply drawn, and th«. second and now successful love, affair of I Lucie with a caddish but kindly "bounder"* is effectively 5 told. [" • • '■■- ■'.':■ .''•-■ :■':*■;,■":'>,•'■■-.■ ,V^f~ : j-- : j The Great Miss Driver: By Anthony Hope. Methuen, London.— "Gnsat Miss Driver" is the wilful daughter of a master builder, who has made an immense fortune, and owns half the country round the town he started ; business -in. Her father dislikes her;';and keeps her at school, but after his death she enters into her king- . dom, and :is wooed rby many wooc-^.rChief among these are an impoverished ; carl _ and a / surly-tempered y; explorer',. t who ■' quarrels with everybody, and insults 'neighbours un- ' til Miss Driver has. to " cut him' as the only alternative of going r to' Coventry with him. But she loves him, 'and continues to meet him, and' finally runs away -with him, thus jilting the earl in ' an unpardonable manner. But the earl is a great gentleman, as any heroic character'of Anthony Hope's must be, and he behaves like a "gentleman after the explorer is killed in a duel, {ind when Miss Driver returns with 7 his -daughter, whom she has adopted/: and whom iisbe skilfully marries to his son, thus ; fulfilling her father's dream of uniting the old families and the new wealth. The East Go Ltjckies : ißy Maud ' Step-, ney Rawson. Methuen, London.r-This is a pleasant and cheerful tale of a careless family, who meet with mild adventures, and have a,generally good time as,"a matter of course. It is a holiday book, which «m be comfortably read in pieces, a very necessary quality in holiday literature prop??.