Those who affect the lighter side of literature have never been in such need of thoroughly amusing books as during the last year or two, and with the host of requests for “something with a laugh on every page,” the bookseller has been powerless to comply. The publication of “The Meddler” is at least one step in the right direction; it is full of fun of the lightest, healthiest sort. The artist, too, has entered thoroughly into the spirit of a book which goes with a merry swing from start to finish.
Furze the Cruel. By John Trevena. Author of “Arminel of the West,” etc. Third Impression.
6s.
Mr. John Trevena’s rise to a high position among West Country novelists has been rapid indeed. If “A Pixy in Petticoats” revealed a talent for romance, combined with the nicest vein of rustic humour, “Arminel of the West” proved that the author was fully equal to the task of writing a really powerful novel. In his latest work he has advanced still farther, for there has been no more artistic representation of the men and women, far from simple in many respects, yet in others primitive to a degree, who dwell in the heart of Devon. When a district possesses chroniclers like Mr. Trevena, it is easy to explain why holiday makers are year by year evincing a disposition to leave the beaten tracks in their rambles.
The Turn of the Balance. By Brand Whitlock.
6s.
Though it is true that many novels that have had a huge vogue in America meet with a comparatively frigid reception on this side of the Atlantic, it is equally true that when once an American book hits the British taste, the impression it leaves is far more lasting than that of the average run of publications. “The Turn of the Balance” is the work of a realist who, perhaps inspired originally by the arch-realist, Mr. Howett, has attained a realism that places him in a position entirely his own. “‘The Turn of the Balance,’” says Mr. Upton Sinclair, author of “The Jungle,” “is an extraordinary piece of work. It is as true as life itself, and yet irresistible in its grip upon the reader. I know nothing with which to compare it, except Tolstoy’s ‘Resurrection.’”
The title gives a ready clue to the purpose of the book. “The Turn of the Balance” is a searching and sweeping arraignment of American modes of administering justice. The indictment is set forth in detail and particularity acquired through years of living at first-hand contact with the sufferers from man’s inhumanity to man. The law itself is put on trial here, and all who reach from under the law’s mantle black hands to crush their fellows with injustice.
The Rainy Day. Tales from the Great City. By the Author of “A London Girl,” etc. Second impression.
3s. 6d.