"Buick Jack Hovse"—By L, Allen Harker. London: John Murray.
Price, 7. 62. met.
"Black Jack House" suggests a den of thieves, a pirates' lair, forgers, smugglers, bandits, or even ghosts, according to the particular bias of the reader's imagination, In actual fact it, is the historic hame of a peaceful house near to an old Abbey where an image of St. John was blackened by fire—so that's that!
When Mrs. L. Allen Harker writes a new novel thousands of readers are thrilled, for they look] upon her as an almost infallible analyst of human weaknesses and perhaps as the layer of the founda-of much mental strength.
In this book we find Mrs, Harker harping on an old theme, so old that we rejoice to find her treating it by a new method; the novelty of her method consisting of éxplaining her story more through the eyes of the object than of the subject. "The old old story" is that of the unwanted child and the unmarried mother, but we are given the viewpoints of the child rather than that of the mother, and it} is here that we find the writer is really giving her best: but to keep the "love interest" moving we have to imagine the mother as a very young woman and we discover the Caughter (aged something less than eight years) arguing in a friendly roanner with the local vicar though she were aged at least] twenty-eight. Of course, "Faith," who has no other name, is an abnormal child by reason of her tage, but it is a little dim to swallow her unusual preco-
Like most woman writers, Mrs. Marker is a little hard on her male: characters (unless they be dignitary ies of the Church) and so it is not} surprising' that she must be a little spiteful to the young business man who marries the errant mother: he Fas to be admitted as "good-looking," but to insure that there shall not be too much is described a ase one should even admire his facility for making money, his business is made that of a' sanitary engineer with a predilection for the fitting up of bath-rooms for his female betters. All this very, womanly viewpoint is rather distressing to the male reader, but there is no denying Mrs. xift of characterization.
Let us take for example the delightful old furniture dealer, B Haviell who lives so much for his ft that he teaches the infant alphabet with a rhyme of] beginning:—
A isan Adam house, stately and tall
wall the Brachetlock hung on the for Chippendale, graceful isa Day bed so slender and Jong.
But to get the best out of Ben Maviell you must read the dbodk for yourself, always remembering that a woman has no mercy where the other sex are concerned and in her eyes the best of them are weaklings to be pitied and nursed.
Perhaps the best of this book lies in its object-lesson; that facts are better disclosed than disguised; that the truth, however ugly, looks better in the broad light of the sun: in fact, that:
To bear all naked truths, and envisage circumstance, all calm, That ie the top of sovereignty.
Whatever the faults of Mrs.
Rarker's latest contribution may be, it cannot be denied that che has a Keen knowledge of human frailties, and that her characters live. The almost too perfect Vicar is still a man and no man need be ashamed to repeat one of his favourite prayers. This is the pray Qh Master of this nicht of Spring! Make firm in me a heart (oe brave Te ack Thee anything!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.