PENROSE, Mrs. H. H., née Lewis. B. Kinsale. Ed. at Rochelle School, Cork. Took honours in T.C.D. in German and English Literature. In addition to her novels she has written innumerable stories for the magazines, e.g., Temple Bar and the Windsor. Resides in Surrey. Besides the novels mentioned below, As Dust in the Balance and An Unequal Yoke are partly concerned with Ireland.
⸺ DENIS TRENCH. Pp. 432. (Alston Rivers). 6s. 1911.
Denis and his sister on their mother’s death are left in doubt about the character and identity of their father, whom they had seen only in their infancy, and who, as a matter of fact, had left his wife in order to become a Roman Catholic priest. This priest acts as a kind of providence to his two children, and reveals himself only on his death bed. The Authoress seems quite unacquainted with Catholic practice, but does not depict it in a hostile spirit. The scene is partly in Ireland, but the only trace of Irish interest is an occasional reference to a mysterious quality in the Celtic blood of the hero and heroine, and the character of the poor girl Stella Delaney, whom Denis marries.
⸺ A FAERY LAND FORLORN. Pp. 312. (Alston Rivers). 6s. 1912.
Life among better-class Protestant folk in a little seaside town in the S. of Ireland. The main interest is furnished by the sad love story of Evelyn Eyre. Mr. Eyre, gentle and bookloving, and Capt. Donovan, given to drink and a tyrant in his family, are neighbours and close friends till a misunderstanding brings estrangement and leads to a tragedy, resulting in the separation—for ever, as it proves—of Evelyn and her lover Terence Donovan. The story is wholesome and human and free from religious or other bias. Aunt Kitty, a lovable old maid, provides an element of humour.
⸺ BURNT FLAX. Pp. 319. (Mills & Boon). 6s. 1914.
The Land League agitation from landlord standpoint. Excellent but over-firm landlord, hired agitator, attempt on landlord’s life. The rent-payers are brutally murdered by leaguers, who are represented as drunken and credulous. There is some good character drawing: Tinsy O’Halloran the half-witted boy, is original: Father O’Riordan is represented as a good sensible priest. The brogue is travestied.
[PERCIVAL, Mrs. Margaret].
⸺ THE IRISH DOVE; or, Faults on Both Sides. Pp. 206. (Dublin: Robertson). 1849.