Dunvegan! oh, Dunvegan!

Why, then, is it that his last book fails to do more than arouse dim memories of some previous enjoyment?  Why are his violets without perfume?  Why is his music vacant of the old melodies?

In Roy and Viola, on the contrary, Mrs. Forrester is seen at her best, and has given us a book of lively interest.  The situation in some respects suggests that of Daniel Deronda: D’Arcy is a sort of Grandcourt cheapened and made popular, acting out his instincts of tyranny and brutality with more ostentation and less good taste.  What is subtly indicated by George Eliot is given with profuse effect by the present writer.  Viola, if not a Gwendolen, is yet an unloving wife.  Sir Douglas Roy plays a somewhat difficult role—­that of friend to the husband and undeclared lover to the wife—­without losing our respect.  He is in many ways a successful hero, and acts his part without either insipidity or priggishness.  A genial optimist like Mrs. Forrester, as her old readers may well believe, sacrifices to a hopelessly unhappy marriage no lot which interests us.  Disagreeable husbands die at an auspicious moment, and everybody is finally made happy in his or her own way, which includes the possession of plenty of money.  The conversations are piquant, and the interest of the story is well kept up.

The Wellfields is a falling off from Probation, which in its turn was a distinct falling-off from Miss Fothergill’s initial story, The First Violin.  The characters are dim, intangible, remote, possessing no reality even at the outset, and as they progress becoming even more estranged from our belief and sympathy.  Jerome is too feeble to arouse even our resentment, which we mildly expend on Sara instead for displaying grief for so poor a creature.  When an author publishes one successful book, it should be a matter of serious thought whether it is not worth while to make such a triumph the crowning event of his or her destiny, lest Fate should have in reserve the tedious trials which await those who are compelled to hear that their sun has set.

Mrs. Walford’s last book has, in a measure, retrieved a certain reputation for interest which her Cousins had lost.  In Troublesome Daughters, however, one looks in vain for the fulfilment of the promise of Mr. Smith and her delightful Van:  A Summer Romance.

In Brigitta we find enough of Auerbach’s charm to like the story, simple as it is.  It recalls his greater books only by the fidelity of the tone and the clearness of the pictures.  Xander is well drawn, and the tragedy of his life, portrayed as it is by those few strong touches which reveal the real artist, is profoundly impressive.

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New Books Received.

Geo. P. Rowell & Co.’s American Newspaper Directory, containing Accurate Lists of all the Newspapers and Periodicals published in the United States, Territories and the Dominion of Canada, together with a description of the towns and cities in which they are published.  New York:  George P. Rowell & Co.