The Sword Decides! By the Author of “The Viper of Milan,” and “The Glen o’ Weeping.” Marjorie Bowen. Second Impression.
6s.
“This remarkable book is a series of the most vivid Italian illuminations, a collection of word pictures, as detailed and as splendid as the choicest gems from ‘Les très riches heures’.... She has told it with so much power and insight that it lives and convinces the reader without any need of proof. In this third novel the writer has gone back to the source of her first success, ‘The Viper of Milan,’ but she brings to this later story so much more strength of characterisation, so much greater freedom in the handling of the plot, and such a great deepening of emotional power, that the earlier book, praised as it was when it appeared, will seem a pale and amateurish novel beside its wonderful successor.”—The Westminster Gazette.
“A splendid book. Splendid in that it is full-blooded, bold, dashing, flaming-coloured; splendid in that it goes with a tremendous clattering swing; splendid in that it is played under the full glare of blazing sunshine.”—The Daily Graphic.
“It is probable that she will settle down for the next few years upon such reputation as ‘The Sword Decides’ may make for her. If that is so, we do not think she has much to fear.... The breathless spirit of the thing is so well sustained that it is impossible not to be carried away by it.... Her third book we think, secures her reputation.”—The Daily Telegraph.
“For the scene of her new novel Miss Marjorie Bowen has returned to the country with which she won her first success.... This romance, indeed, in many ways, is superior to anything that its author has ever written.... In fact, her remarkable gifts of description, her quick eye for romance and passion and dramatic effect, never seriously falter. The whole story moves with resistless might to a great and awe-inspiring climax, in which a fierce conflict wages.”—The Standard.
Heather. By the Author of “A Pixy in Petticoats,” “Arminel of the West,” and “Furze the Cruel.” John Trevena.
6s.
“Almost everywhere on Dartmoor are furze, heather, and granite. The furze seems to suggest cruelty, the heather endurance, and the granite strength. The furze is destroyed by fire, but grows again; the granite is worn away imperceptibly by the rain. This work is the first of a proposed trilogy, which the author hopes to continue and complete with ‘Heather’ and ‘Granite.’”
So ran Mr. John Trevena’s Introductory Note in “Furze the Cruel,” the brilliant success of which was one of the features of last year’s publishing. Could there exist, it was asked by readers whose information was confined to holiday tours in the West, among those pleasant Devonshire folks men so brutal and so devoid of moral sense? Yes, answered those who knew, it was too true, and no more faithful picture of life among the Dartmoor peasants has ever been presented. But, happily, there are many delightful characters around Dartmoor for Mr. Trevena to portray, and though no Devonshire novel which blinked the depravity and ignorance that prevail could be pronounced really artistic, the title of “Heather,” as being typical of endurance, suggests a singularly attractive story.