NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS

New Zealand Mail, 24 December 1902, Page 28

NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS

“Woman, the Sphinx.” By Fergus Hume. John .Long, London. W nit- ■ t combe and Toanbs, Wellington.

This old New Zealand journalist departs in one of his latest productions from a narrative of incident to the study of character. Let it be understood that the book is not without incident and a powerfully mysterious incident at that, but Mr Hume has endeavoured to give us a closer acquaintance with the people of whom he writes than formerly. There is humour—woman’s humour in the book. We have a “very terrible old lady,” who speaks of her husband as “no better nor a ’og’s ’ead sittin’ round in wrong corners.” The hero, a victim to hereditary tendencies, works .out his own salvation, and the heroine, who also overcomes moral weakness, amidst a good deal of pretty-love making tells of her twin sister who “gave her evil passions full play ” and lived a wicked life in Paris. She became the notorious lais. The hero is taken into Parisian life, of which Mr Hrune draws a strong picture with a masterful hand. “By Dulvercomhe Water.” By Harold Vallings. MacMillan and Co., London. Whit-combe and Tombs, Wellington. In a romantic setting Mr Vallings has told us a charming story of the love of Will Estcote for Claudine Bethune. It was in 1685 that the Monmouth rebellion broke out, and it was during that historical episode "the love - making took place. It is not the first time this period has been dexterously treated by novelists, hut it does not appear as if it could be exhausted. It will not be claimed that our author has as yet sprung to fame on the strength of his historical story, but it will be admitted that few if any of living historical novelists excel Mr Vallings in constructive ability or faithfulness in representation.

“Zoraida.” By William Le Queux Ward, Lock and Co., London and Melbourne. 8. and W. Mackay, Wellington.

The scene of this thrilling narrative is laid in the Sahara. In that inhospitable region we find an Englishman travelling for pleasure and adventure. The writer's imagination has full play in au unfamiliar region, and it seems quite natural that he should he captured by a band of Bedouins and threatened with a terrible depth. But the creature whose name gives title to the hook rescues this Englishman from a cruel end, She is called the Daughter of the Gun, and she entrusts him with a secret mission on the success of which their love and happiness depends. Through moving incidents and hair-breadth escapes he finally attains his reward. The river of sensation in this tale is in high flood, and the reader is borne irresistibly along to the end of a romance of mystery and adventure.

“Jan Van Elselo.” By Gilbert and Marion Coleridge. MacMillan and Co., London. Whitcombo and Tombs, Wellington.

This story purports to be an account of 'Jan Van Elselo’s adventures during the reign of his most Catholic Majesty Philip 11., of Spain. It tells us of staghunting in the forest of Vincennes, of hard-riding, of brilliant sword-play, of exquisit® mother-wit, of thrilling adventure, of subtle intrigue and of secret missions. We have thrown prominently upon the pages of this book such persons of the Duke of Alva, Philip of Spain Count Egmont, William of Orange, and the hero, whose name supplies the work’s title. Similar heroes have lived in the pages of fiction frequently, but our authors have given to Jan a rare attractiveness and merit. Their workmanship altogether is of a high order, and it is finished in a style that does them credit. This work is sure to have many readers.

“The Heart of B.uby.” By Madame Tosti. T. Fisher Unwin. J. Wilson Davidson, Wellington.

This is an autobiography, told in a diary, of a French girl who, after being brought up in luxury, is cast adrift on the world, and beoomes a circus rider. She attains great notoriety, and at the zenith of her fame discovers an old lover whom she had thought dead; but the lover proves unfaithful, and the story ends in a tragedy. The wife of the famous song-writer has given to novel readers a brilliant and thrilling romance, and her style of narrative is novel and attractive.

“A Lady’s Honour.” By Bass Llake. T. Fisher Unwin, London. S. and W. Mackay, Wellington. ’

This book is a romance of the times of Marlborough, and the scene is laid partly in England and partly in the low countries. The hero is a oountrybred young man of good family, who falls in Jove with his cousin before ever he seos hor. When his father has been murdered by some unknown hand, the thought of mooting hor in Brussels takes him out to the wars of the groat Buko of Marlborough. Cathcart, his handsome dissolute comrade, likewise falls in love with the lady, and resolves to win hor, but

shamefully. The hero has his work cut out to save his wilful cousin from the desperate wiles of his rival, and hairbreadth are the in whjiah the three take. part. ,