FORTHCOMING FICTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17426, 21 September 1918, Page 2

FORTHCOMING FICTION

Quito a number of notable novels figure in the announcement lists, and several wellknown and popular authors are once more to the fore. The prolific and versatile Mr H. G. Wells gets right away from the war with a story called "Joan and Peter." two young people mixed up in the radical and artistic movements which' seethed and fermented in certain English circles in the years immediately preci-ding 1914. Mr William J. Ixicke, on the other hand.' has written a romance of the Great War. called "The Rough Road." in which he relates how some very real people pawed through the crucible and came out fine gold. !n "Love Eternal," Sir Rider Haggard leaves his favourite Africa for England and Switzerland, and he simply uses the war to provide a denouement, for his story Mr Eden Phillpot.ts has written another in hi? series of stories having British industries as their backgrounds, and in "The Spinners" _ he tells a tale of a boy's hatred for his father because the man haß been unjust, to tho woman who should have been his wife. Admirers of "Sinister Street" will hail with anticipation the news that Mr Compton Mackenzie has a new novel in the press callod "Sylvia Scarlett." in which he narrates the life-story of a girl of mixed French and English parentage who climbs to fame through difficultv and adventure. Sequels are not always successful, and many readers who appreciated Mr Arnold Bennett's "Hilda Lessways" were disappointed with "We Twain.' Nothing daunted, how ever, Mr Bennett in his new novel, "The Roll Call," tolls the story of the son of Hilda Lessways and of the influence of the war upon his brilliant career. Mr J. D. Beresford, one of the younger novelists, whose powerful if gloomy book, "The House in Demetrius Road," made its mark, sets forth in " God's Counterpoint" the story of a man whose nature has been warped bv his early training. In lighter vein is Mr George A. Birmingham's "The Island Mystery." a rollicking yarn about aji island in the /Egean Sea, where the Kaiser's submarines can' get petrol and where an entertaining group of peoplo have ' a great variety of adventures. Mr A. Tressidder She<ppard, author of those two truly remarkable stories, "The Rise of Ledgar Dunstan" and "The Quest of Ledgar Dunstan," has a new novel in the press entitled " A Son of the Manse," said to be the most powerful novel published since "The House With the Green Shutters." It seems a long, long time since "Richard Dehan" scored so great a success with "Tire Dop Doctor," but the announcement of a eequal to that story under the title "That Which Hath Wings" is calculated to arouse interest.

Mr Jeffery Farnol returns to tho stylo of his first success, "The Broad Highway," and in his new novel "Our Admirable Betty" he gives his readers a romance of English oountry life in tho early eighteenth century; whilo Mrs Humphry Ward, is the author of a story presenting a different view of the wartime England from that which most English novelists have give ' for it includes a greater variety of crpSs-eurrents, and shows some of the influences that have been a drag upon_ England in the war struggle. Tho novel will be called " Elizabeth's Campaign."

One of the sensations' of the season will be Mr George Mooro's " A Storyteller's Holiday," which is to be issued for subscribers only by the Society for Irish Folk-lore. "To find a parallel for this work," say the publishers, " one would have to go back to tho famous Italian and French storytellers _ of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries — Aretino, Boccaccio, La Fontaine, and we can in elude Chaucer for the quality of the material Literature in its best sense, a fine feeling for phrasing, keen humour, and a quality of interest that will make this work a permanent contribution to English literature. The stories that Alec. Trusselby told George Mooro and the stories told by George Mooro to Alec. Trusselby in return make a volume well worth 50 readings." One of the stories that live in the memory is Mr J. 0. Snaifh's "The Sailor." This popular novelist, whose last novel, "Tho Coming," was something quite out of the ordinary, has another book ready, entitled "Tho 'lime Spirit," which is described as " a very engaging pieco of fiction." In addition to tho foregoing list of prominent new English novels, the American publishers are making announcements of new fiction " for fall and winter publication," which for length and quality have seldom been surpassed. It is 10 years since Mr William Allen White arrested attention with "A Certain Rich Man." Ho now follows it -with another story of a Kansas town and a hero who says in his heart "there is no Got}"; tho title of the book will be "In the Heart of a Fool." A new romance by Mr George W. Cable ia to bo called "Lovers of Louisiana," and a now story by Mr Booth-Tarkington, "The Magnificent Ambersons," deals with the change in American society life and general viewpoint during tho last generation by reason of tho rapidly increasing material prosperity. A new Gene Stratton-Porter book called " A Daughter of the Land " reflects outdoor life and emphasises tho importance of primary products. In "Josselyn's Wife" Mrs Kathleen Norris, author of " Martie the Unconquered," tells a dramatic story of a country girl suddenly transported by a whirlwind marriago to tho wealthy social life of New York Mrs Amelia Rives's new story, "The Ghost Garden," is a talo of two lovers and a haunted garden in Virginia. Two new novels wliich promise to be popular aro "Camilla," by Mrs Elizabeth Robins, a story of tangled lives, a divorce, and many complications; and "The City of Masks," by Mr Georgo Barr M'Cutcheon, a story ctf New York, picturing people of high birth dwelling in humble placcs. In " Virtuous Wives" Mr Owen Johnson has written a tale of Now York society and of tho women who give themselves up to selfish icmasement; and in " Out of the Silences" Mrs Mary E. Waller, of " The Wood Carver of Lympus" fame, has written a story of life among the Indians, followed by life in tho midst of civilisation. Mr George Gibbs's new novel, " The Golden Bough," is a story of tho secret service in tho great war.