BLACK MARY. By Allan M'Aulay.

Otago Witness, Issue 2467, 26 June 1901, Page 76

BLACK MARY. By Allan M'Aulay.

' London : T. Fisher Unwin. | The story of a little brown child whose native mother is dead, and whose father "repents him <of the evil,'' and sends his " love child " home to the stern old Scottish .home where he himself was reared, i« here. It is well told in some respects, and the types chosen, if not either very new -or original, are well drawn — the name of the book is its ugliest part. The story of Mary's childhood, an unwelcome inmate of the prim old home, with the mere justice and duty of Aunty Barbara and Uncle James, -and the grudging regard of old-Ra-chel always subduing and quelling her, is most naturally told. "The touch of the tar-brush "' in the poor little lassie's veins darkens all the world for her. Ardnrimocb. House, on the lonely '"hillside above the loch, is cold and lonely indeed after the warmth and light-heartedness of a Jamaican planter's household. As years pass, however, Aunty Barbara and Uncle James find that the mere duty they owed to their youngest -brother's " love child " has given .place to a real affection for the gentle, sweet, and unselfish girl whese love and thoughtfulness giad- • dens -their lives. 'But now comes the sensation of the simple story, and it breaks like a thunderclap upon the -quiet household. The events which spring from the -extraordinary reveia-t-ion which so alters life at Ardurnnceh Hcuse and completely changes Mary's Avhole existence are part of an excellent and natural plot which it would be a shame to reveal — it is well worth reading the book to find out. We note. too. a decided improvement in the author's style since the writing of " The Rhymer." LEST WE FORGET. ti3v Joseph Hocking. London: Ward, Lock, and Co. Dunedin : Braithwoite's Book Arcade. A 'keenly-interesting and well-told tale is this of the adventures nnd perils of young ' Dick Hamstead, at the beginning of Queen Mary's reign. The state of Eng- | land at the" time, the elements of intrigue, espionage, and bitterness which crept through State politics and poisoned the family life of all sorts and conditions of men. 'is admirably portrayed by the events of the story. There are no pages wasted in long dissertations or tedious descriptions — action tells its own story. Young Dick Hamstead, son of Squire Hamstead, of a good old Catholic family, is sent by his father to become one of the great Bishop Gardiner's trusted messengers — or shall one say "spies" ? The story opens on that fateful first of October, 1553, when Mary was crowned at Westminster by the great Bishop Gardiner, and ushered in the period, of cruel persecution, bigotry, and all their demoralising influences, which time is inclined to soften — as it does all else.

The novel is distinctly historical and in its close adherence k> truth, its vivid touches of realism and attention to contemporary manners and modes, is an admir-

p.hle piect of work. National events, the fires whose baleful glare lit up England, the mat tyred saints whose lives cried lev.dot in death their testimony to the tiuths they .lied for. all spsak fr^m these pjgcf — "Lest We Forget."' Readers of Joseph Hocking's "Scarlet Woman ' and "Purple Robe." with their wise revelation of the dangers of modsin mduTerence ar>d laxity ir religions belief, will, we think, be ready to concede th.it no fitter point could have been given to the former books, than this reminder of what history has to tell vs — lesl we foiget those lessons of the past.

Moreover — "novel with a purpose,"' as the book undoubtedly is — the huma interest is so strong and fo waimly sustained throughout its pa<j;e-s that readers who care nothing for the purpose will genuinely enjoy the novel. StcJlv/utt Dick Hamstead and sweet, Faith Bedford are a pair of lovei'S whose love story, thadawed by the cruel subt'ety and eager passion of the crafty Spaniard, Toledo, may well interest all classes of novel readers.