Crown 8vo. Cloth. 6s.
The scene of Maxwell Gray's new story is laid in London and in Italy, where the gradual unfolding of an elaborate but absorbing plot holds the reader's attention until the very last page of the book. This is a tale of heroism, of self-sacrifice, of romance, full of incident and adventure, illumined by those tender and imaginative touches, that vivid portrayal of character, which the public has learnt to expect from the author of "The Silence of Dean Maitland." From these pages we may learn that there is "something afar from the sphere of our sorrow," the highest aspiration of the lover, the artist, the poet and the saint, which, beautiful beyond all that man's heart can divine, is yet within the reach of every one of us.
A Comedy of Middle Age.
By FORREST REID,
Author of "The Bracknells," "Following Darkness," etc.
Crown 8vo. 6s.
This extremely interesting story, of which the title gives a most apt description, is written in a lighter vein than the author's previous work. It is a love story, and while the tale itself is enthralling, it depends in great measure for its charm on the attractiveness of the characters who figure in the drama and who are all very pleasant company. The book is essentially human, the note is never forced, yet the interest goes on increasing right up to the end. It is actual life with its comedy and tragedy so closely intermingled that it is not always easy to distinguish one from the other. The scene is laid abroad, partly in Bruges, and partly in Italy, but the characters are, with one or two exceptions, natives of that part of Ireland with which the author is most familiar, and they lose none of their individuality by being transplanted to those beautiful old-world cities where we follow their varied fortunes. Mr. Reid's previous novels have already secured for his work the warm appreciation of some of the best judges of literary values, and the present novel may be confidently stated to exhibit his undoubted power as a writer of fiction in an advanced and progressive stage.