The work of Coralie Stanton and Heath Hosken stands out from the fiction of to-day in bold outline; there is nothing commonplace or anæmic about it. Their new novel, "The Second Best," is a realistic story of modern English society; the characters are vivid and natural, and the incidents palpitate with drama. The title is in keeping with the underlying idea, but "The Second Best" is, in point of fact, the authors' very best; it grips from the first, and a rich treat is in store for those who come within the spell of this rousing story.
A LOVELY LITTLE RADICAL By Alice M. Diehl
The work of Alice M. Diehl has two main recommendations—its freedom from the unpleasant and its polished and artistic setting. "A Lovely Little Radical," however, is not a placid story. It recounts the love of a young girl of patrician birth and heritage for a simple man of the people. The author manipulates her theme with unfailing tact and discrimination, and succeeds in eliciting the reader's sympathies from the commencement. "A Lovely Little Radical" may be regarded as the crowning achievement of this popular romanticist.
THE LADY OF THE BLUE MOTOR By G. Sidney Paternoster. With Coloured Frontispiece
Mr. Paternoster seems determined to prove in this novel that the motor-car provides inimitable opportunities for the rebirth of romance in an unromantic twentieth century. The central character, "My Lady Melodé," is a veritable heroine of romance. From the time she makes her appearance, enshrouded in a cloud of mystery, in the salon of a hotel at Versailles, she is the centre of a series of thrilling adventures and dramatic situations which enchain the reader's attention until the happy outcome is reached.
INNOCENT MASQUERADERS By Sarah Tytler
This story is founded on an incident which happened at Blackheath upwards of thirty years ago. Two baby girls were exposed and left on the same night at opposite points of the heath to the charity of wayfarers. There is abundance of interest and incident before the mystery of their origin is solved. On one occasion the wrong waif is installed with an old city knight and his lady as their lost grandchild and heiress, but all comes right in the end. Best of all, the two waifs are innocent, good girls, although their adventures should appeal to every lover of true romance.
RUBINA By James Blyth. With Coloured Frontispiece
Mr. James Blyth stands almost alone among English novelists as a realist of the Zola School, but superadded to his realism is a strain of thought at once subtle and poetical. "Rubina" is the story of a girl of the people, and her life is passed wholly in a village in the heart of the Fens. Surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature, she herself is a child of nature, untrammelled by the niceties and scruples of modern conventions. Mr. Blyth pursues his theme in a legitimate and logical fashion, and he has produced a work which is a veritable piece of life, the poignant emotional power and truth of which will be acknowledged by every thoughtful reader.