Romance Island. By Zona Gale. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co. Price, $1.50.
The discovery of a fourth dimension is surely a very interesting thing and no one can give a more thrilling account of the consequences of such a discovery than the gifted Zona Gale, whose Pelleas and Ettarre stories are so widely known and loved. The adventure, the mystery and swift rush of events are so thrilling in this island of Miss Gale’s discovery that the reader loses himself in the absorbing account, and it is only when the book is laid down with a sigh when finished that he realizes that he has been filching time from his usual rest or occupation for a sojourn in the regions of enchantment.
Highways and Byways of the Mississippi Valley. By Clifton Johnson. New York: The Macmillan Co. Price, $2.
This is a thoroughly excellent and descriptive account of the many lovely nooks and corners that dot the great valley of the “Father of Waters.” It is also a study of the types of the inhabitants of the section and contains much interesting and valuable historical matter. The illustrations are from the author’s own camera and add greatly to the interest of the chronicle.
The Upper Hand. By Emerson Gifford Taylor. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. Price, $1.50.
In the ’squire’s house, in a New England house, there has been a tragedy in the night. Later a piratical seafarer appears and the village becomes the scene of strange adventures. The mysterious bringing of a little girl to the squire’s house, her subsequent bringing up and the winning of the old man’s reluctant affections, her love affair, complicated with the reappearance of the sailor, whose power over the ’squire only adds to the mystery, and the final adjustment of all the puzzling questions, bringing happiness and justice to all, makes a readable story.
Famous Actor Families in America. By Montrose J. Moses. New York: T. Y. Crowell & Co. Price, $2.
A rare value attaches to this book from the fact that it is not only a succinct account of the actors who have made a name on the American stage and transmitted to their children their talent, but also reproduces a number of interesting old portraits, which are of the greatest value to the student of the beginnings of the American stage. The histories of such well-known families as the Jeffersons, the Drews and Barrymores, the Booths and other favorites will find readers everywhere. The whole matter is well treated and beautifully illustrated.
Blind Alleys. By George Cary Eggleston. Boston: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. Price, $1.50.
The titles of Mr. Eggleston’s previous books, “A Carolina Cavalier,” “Evelyn Byrd,” “A Daughter of the South,” etc., show the chosen field of his work to be the painting of Southern romances. In “Blind Alleys,” however, he has selected an entirely different field and has given us a significant and typical study of social conditions in New York. There is a sweet and wholesome love story, of course. Indeed, there are two of them, and altogether the novel is one of exceptional interest.