More Cricket Songs | Page 8

~The Countermine~. ARTHUR WENLOCK. _[Now Ready_.
~The Friendships of Veronica~. THOMAS COBB. [May 17.
~Hugh Revel, A Public School Story~. LIONEL PORTMAN. [July
25.]
~Notes on Books.~
In issuing a list of new and forthcoming publications, Mr. Alston
Rivers cannot but express his gratification at the spirit of fair play
which has enabled him to realise such a striking series of successes.
The primary business of a publisher is to discriminate, both as to
intrinsic literary merit, and with regard to what will hit the public taste,
a classical illustration of the difficulty in gauging the latter being the
rejection of "John Inglesant" by the late James Payn, then "reader" for
an eminent firm. While fully recognising the remarkable gifts of the
author Mr. Payn's hesitancy as to the book's attractions got the better of
his judgment; and with "_The House of Merrilees_" it is now an open
secret that very much the same point of view was taken in more than
one instance. Mr. Marshall's "_Peter Binney, Undergraduate_," had
been and is still decidedly popular, but his new book was more
ambitious, possessing such a plot as to require peculiarly delicate
handling. Had it been handled in a way that combined a really high
literary standard with more stirring qualities? The question requires no
answer now, for the triumph which the publisher at once foretold on
reading the manuscript has been more than attained, and "The House of
Merrilees" is indisputably the novel of the season. It has at the same
time demonstrated to the publishing trade that a sensational story does
not labour under any disadvantage by the abduction of literary style.

In a wholly different vein are "The Discipline of Christine" and "The
Unequal Yoke," by Mrs. Barré Goldie and Mrs. H.H. Penrose

respectively. In the former the ways and moods of childhood are
depicted in original and inimitable fashion, which makes it safe to
predict that the author will go far beyond her first effort as a novelist. In
"The Unequal Yoke" Mrs. Penrose has taken for her theme the love
story of a clergyman whose benefice is an Irish coast town, and in
whose flock prominence is attained by narrow zeal rather than by
amiability. He is really a good man, and is lucky enough, or the reverse,
to win the hand of a delightful young lady whose charms, however, do
not command the unanimous approval of the parishioners. The
possession of high musical attainments makes her temperament all the
more interesting, and accounts for the presence in so remote a district
of her German friend whose acute sense of the ridiculous leads to such
untoward results. It is hard to say whether the author's talents are best
evinced by her true pathos or by the delicate touches of humour which
pervade the book. Another commendable feature of the novel is an alert
skill in construction which stamps it as a thoroughly artistic production.
~Ready May 2.~
~The Soul of London.~ FORD MADOX HUEFFER. Author of "The
Life of Madox Brown," "The Face of the Night," &c. Imperial 16mo,
5s. nett.

~Ready May 9.~
~More Cricket Songs.~ NORMAN GALE. Imperial 16mo, 2s. nett.

~New Edition. Now Ready.~
~Spring Blossoms and Summer Fruit.~ JOHN BYLES. Cloth, Crown
8vo, 1s._ 6_d. nett.
These "Sunday Morning Talks to Children" are full of charm and
suggestive thought.

"We can hardly praise too highly the beauty and exquisite simplicity of
these talks."--Literary World.
London: ALSTON RIVERS, 13, Arundel Street.
Mr. Reginald Turner has already achieved such distinction as an author
of superior fiction (witness the success of his "Comedy of Progress"
and "Cynthia's Damages,") that a cordial reception was assured for his
latest book "Peace on Earth." It is a pathetic story that he has to tell; of
the sorrows of the outcast amid poverty, and the rage against law and
government provoked thereby; of the less obvious, but equally poignant,
griefs which smoulder beneath the surface of "comfortable
circumstances." The plot is, in short, one that in the hands of any other
than a thorough man of the world, would fail hopelessly, which makes
Mr. Turner's complete and undoubted success all the more meritorious.
"The Countermine_" is the work of Mr. Arthur Wenlock, whose "As
Down of Thistle_" showed considerable promise, though perhaps his
subtle vein of sardonic philosophy escaped due recognition. As its
name denotes, the interest in the new novel is largely military; in every
line the soldier, with his nice sense of honour, his virility, and his direct
methods, stands revealed. "The Countermine" is certainly a most
thrilling tale, and should raise the author to the front rank of writers on
"Service" topics. Of Mr. Thomas Cobb, whose reputation is already
firmly established, it is only necessary to say that in "_The Friendships
of Veronica_"