“MORE OR LESS MARRIED.“Mr. Douglas Sladen’s first novel is a distinct success. He has been exceptionally fortunate in hismise en scène. He wanted to write a Deceased Wife’s Sister novel. In itself, one can hardly imagine a more unpromising subject; and I confess I took up the book with the gravest misgivings. But they were soon dissipated. For what does Mr. Sladen do but transplant that familiar British grievance to Japan, of all places in the world, and introduce us to European Yokohama society, which has never yet been exhausted from the novelist’s standpoint! On this virgin soil he has planted two heroines—sisters—both delightful, and both sympathetic. Most writers would have made their hero marry the wrong sister first; but Mr. Sladen, more wisely, makes him marry the right one—the one he loves, the one who loves him—while yet keeping the reader’s interest mainly engaged on the one he doesn’t marry. This is excellently managed. Again, the novelty of the local colour and the brightness of the story make us forget the familiarity of the annual and perennial grievance on which it hinges. In due time the first wife dies at an excellent juncture, and Phil Sandys, the hero, does not marry her sister Bryn, the delicious heroine. On the contrary, to prevent scandal, he sends her home to the England she has never seen, consigned to the care of a most unpleasant rector cousin. All the circumstances conspire to produce adénouement. You foresee but one end—and it doesn’t happen. A steamer to Melbourne, where such marriages are legal, and a short way out of the trouble? Nothing of the sort: Mr. Sladen takes a bolder and more dangerous course. Bryn’s objection to a marriage with Phil is a strictly ecclesiastical one—the Church forbids: but the objection goes down before a sufficient cause like a Japanese house before a gentle earthquake. How Phil and Bryn substituted a union blessed by the American Minister to Japan and the whole resident Christian population for a strictly legal ceremony must be read in the novel itself. Certainly, the story as a whole succeeds in interesting and amusing the most jaded reader; it is wholesome, healthful, breezy, and airy. Its Japanesquery is delightful; and its ethics will only disturb the peace of the Anglican clergy, while deepening in the minds of not a few among the laity the sense of opposition to a bishop-made restriction, which prevents the legal union of two people so obviously designed for one another as its hero and heroine.—G. A.”(Grant Allenin “The Westminster Gazette.”)NEW STORY by the Author of that successful Novel“A WELSH SINGER.”TORN SAILS.A TALE OF A WELSH VILLAGE.By ALLEN RAINE.In cloth gilt,6s.“In his new story, ‘Torn Sails,’ Mr. Allen Raine fully maintains and strengthens the position as a novelist which his ‘Welsh Singer’ indicated for him. It is a tender and beautiful romance of the idyllic; a charming picture of life in a Welsh seaside village. It is something of a prose poem, true, tender, and graceful. It is also a charming picture of an interesting and by no means familiar scene of life and manners, in which the humorous traits, though, are rich enough to enliven and brighten the whole.”—Scotsman.“The expectations aroused by ‘A Welsh Singer’ have not been disappointed by Mr. Raine’s latest work, which is surpassingly beautiful. The absorbing interest of the whole story is the strongest tribute to the author’s power of characterisation.”—N.B. Daily Mail.“Lovely pictures are given here and there in the book. No recent novel has a more graceful influence and promised greater things for its author’s future. Wales should be proud of her new novelist.”—Dundee Advertiser.Third Edition.A WELSH SINGER.By ALLEN RAINE.In cloth gilt,6s.“Truly idyllic; well conceived, true to life, and worked out in a dainty spirit. Allen Raine has produced a very charming and delicate story.”—Athenæum.“Wales has waited long for her novelist; but he seems to have come at last in the person of Mr. Allen Raine, who, in his perfectly beautiful story, ‘A Welsh Singer,’ has at once proved himself a worthy interpreter and exponent of the romantic spirit of his country.”—Daily Mail.“If you are in the mood for a novel, I can recommend to you strongly a really charming pastoral, ‘A Welsh Singer.’”—Truth.London: HUTCHINSON & CO., Paternoster Row.NEW NOVEL.THE VICAR.By JOSEPH HATTON.In cloth gilt,6s.“The story is thoroughly interesting, and the character of Lady Barwick is well realised.”—Academy.“A book that is full of good points.”—Dundee Advertiser.NEW NOVEL.A BRIDE OF JAPAN.By CARLTON DAWE.In cloth gilt,6s.FIRST REVIEW.“Very powerfully worked by Mr. Dawe; and he tells an affecting, deeply interesting, admirable story. Handled with a combined strength and delicacy of touch which prove Mr. Dawe a true literary artist.”—Scotsman.NEW NOVEL by the Author of “SCARLET AND STEEL.”DEARER THAN HONOUR.By LIVINGSTONE PRESCOTT.In cloth gilt,6s.“‘Dearer than Honour’ is in many ways an impressive story, and gives evidence of careful and skilful workmanship on every page. It has more real thought in it than goes to the making of half-a-dozen average novels of to-day.”—Pall Mall Gazette.A NEW NOVEL BY A NEW WRITER.A BACHELOR GIRL IN LONDON.By G. E. MITTON.In crown 8vo, cloth gilt,6s.“The title of this story indicates its nature. In a most interesting narrative the trials and struggles of a young woman are depicted with all the vividness and reality which appertain to a description of personal experience. It is a most uncommon and telling story.”London: HUTCHINSON & CO., Paternoster Row.NEW NOVEL.WOMAN AND THE SHADOW.By ARABELLA KENEALY.In cloth gilt,6s.“Many excellent types of Society characters and manners are introduced. There is much cleverness and insight and piquant humour in Miss Kenealy’s tale.”—Scotsman.“Decidedly entertaining; the characters are vivid, and excellently put on the stage.”—Standard.OVER 30,000 COPIES SOLD.NEW NOVEL.THE HON. PETER STIRLING.By PAUL LEICESTER FORD.In cloth gilt,6s.FIRST REVIEW.“Readers of ‘John Halifax’ and ‘Robert Elsmere’ will be especially appealed to; infinite resource, power, and artistic finish. His analysis of Peter’s character is excellent; novel and convincing; so powerfully and attractively treated.”—Manchester Courier.“The book is graphic in its descriptions and very amusing.”—Scotsman.NEW STORY.WYNDHAM’S DAUGHTER.By ANNIE S. SWAN.In cloth gilt,6s.A FEW PRESS OPINIONS.“This is a story which every girl should read. We do not often meet with a book so unfeignedly wholesome and sincere as is ‘Wyndham’s Daughter.’”—British Weekly.“Exceedingly agreeable and healthy reading, and will bear comparison with any of her previous works.”—Scotsman.London: HUTCHINSON & CO., Paternoster Row.
“MORE OR LESS MARRIED.
“Mr. Douglas Sladen’s first novel is a distinct success. He has been exceptionally fortunate in hismise en scène. He wanted to write a Deceased Wife’s Sister novel. In itself, one can hardly imagine a more unpromising subject; and I confess I took up the book with the gravest misgivings. But they were soon dissipated. For what does Mr. Sladen do but transplant that familiar British grievance to Japan, of all places in the world, and introduce us to European Yokohama society, which has never yet been exhausted from the novelist’s standpoint! On this virgin soil he has planted two heroines—sisters—both delightful, and both sympathetic. Most writers would have made their hero marry the wrong sister first; but Mr. Sladen, more wisely, makes him marry the right one—the one he loves, the one who loves him—while yet keeping the reader’s interest mainly engaged on the one he doesn’t marry. This is excellently managed. Again, the novelty of the local colour and the brightness of the story make us forget the familiarity of the annual and perennial grievance on which it hinges. In due time the first wife dies at an excellent juncture, and Phil Sandys, the hero, does not marry her sister Bryn, the delicious heroine. On the contrary, to prevent scandal, he sends her home to the England she has never seen, consigned to the care of a most unpleasant rector cousin. All the circumstances conspire to produce adénouement. You foresee but one end—and it doesn’t happen. A steamer to Melbourne, where such marriages are legal, and a short way out of the trouble? Nothing of the sort: Mr. Sladen takes a bolder and more dangerous course. Bryn’s objection to a marriage with Phil is a strictly ecclesiastical one—the Church forbids: but the objection goes down before a sufficient cause like a Japanese house before a gentle earthquake. How Phil and Bryn substituted a union blessed by the American Minister to Japan and the whole resident Christian population for a strictly legal ceremony must be read in the novel itself. Certainly, the story as a whole succeeds in interesting and amusing the most jaded reader; it is wholesome, healthful, breezy, and airy. Its Japanesquery is delightful; and its ethics will only disturb the peace of the Anglican clergy, while deepening in the minds of not a few among the laity the sense of opposition to a bishop-made restriction, which prevents the legal union of two people so obviously designed for one another as its hero and heroine.—G. A.”
(Grant Allenin “The Westminster Gazette.”)
NEW STORY by the Author of that successful Novel“A WELSH SINGER.”
TORN SAILS.
A TALE OF A WELSH VILLAGE.
By ALLEN RAINE.
In cloth gilt,6s.
“In his new story, ‘Torn Sails,’ Mr. Allen Raine fully maintains and strengthens the position as a novelist which his ‘Welsh Singer’ indicated for him. It is a tender and beautiful romance of the idyllic; a charming picture of life in a Welsh seaside village. It is something of a prose poem, true, tender, and graceful. It is also a charming picture of an interesting and by no means familiar scene of life and manners, in which the humorous traits, though, are rich enough to enliven and brighten the whole.”—Scotsman.
“The expectations aroused by ‘A Welsh Singer’ have not been disappointed by Mr. Raine’s latest work, which is surpassingly beautiful. The absorbing interest of the whole story is the strongest tribute to the author’s power of characterisation.”—N.B. Daily Mail.
“Lovely pictures are given here and there in the book. No recent novel has a more graceful influence and promised greater things for its author’s future. Wales should be proud of her new novelist.”—Dundee Advertiser.
Third Edition.
A WELSH SINGER.
By ALLEN RAINE.
In cloth gilt,6s.
“Truly idyllic; well conceived, true to life, and worked out in a dainty spirit. Allen Raine has produced a very charming and delicate story.”—Athenæum.
“Wales has waited long for her novelist; but he seems to have come at last in the person of Mr. Allen Raine, who, in his perfectly beautiful story, ‘A Welsh Singer,’ has at once proved himself a worthy interpreter and exponent of the romantic spirit of his country.”—Daily Mail.
“If you are in the mood for a novel, I can recommend to you strongly a really charming pastoral, ‘A Welsh Singer.’”—Truth.
London: HUTCHINSON & CO., Paternoster Row.
NEW NOVEL.
THE VICAR.
By JOSEPH HATTON.
In cloth gilt,6s.
“The story is thoroughly interesting, and the character of Lady Barwick is well realised.”—Academy.
“A book that is full of good points.”—Dundee Advertiser.
NEW NOVEL.
A BRIDE OF JAPAN.
By CARLTON DAWE.
In cloth gilt,6s.
FIRST REVIEW.
“Very powerfully worked by Mr. Dawe; and he tells an affecting, deeply interesting, admirable story. Handled with a combined strength and delicacy of touch which prove Mr. Dawe a true literary artist.”—Scotsman.
NEW NOVEL by the Author of “SCARLET AND STEEL.”
DEARER THAN HONOUR.
By LIVINGSTONE PRESCOTT.
In cloth gilt,6s.
“‘Dearer than Honour’ is in many ways an impressive story, and gives evidence of careful and skilful workmanship on every page. It has more real thought in it than goes to the making of half-a-dozen average novels of to-day.”—Pall Mall Gazette.
A NEW NOVEL BY A NEW WRITER.
A BACHELOR GIRL IN LONDON.
By G. E. MITTON.
In crown 8vo, cloth gilt,6s.
“The title of this story indicates its nature. In a most interesting narrative the trials and struggles of a young woman are depicted with all the vividness and reality which appertain to a description of personal experience. It is a most uncommon and telling story.”
London: HUTCHINSON & CO., Paternoster Row.
NEW NOVEL.
WOMAN AND THE SHADOW.
By ARABELLA KENEALY.
In cloth gilt,6s.
“Many excellent types of Society characters and manners are introduced. There is much cleverness and insight and piquant humour in Miss Kenealy’s tale.”—Scotsman.
“Decidedly entertaining; the characters are vivid, and excellently put on the stage.”—Standard.
OVER 30,000 COPIES SOLD.
NEW NOVEL.
THE HON. PETER STIRLING.
By PAUL LEICESTER FORD.
In cloth gilt,6s.
FIRST REVIEW.
“Readers of ‘John Halifax’ and ‘Robert Elsmere’ will be especially appealed to; infinite resource, power, and artistic finish. His analysis of Peter’s character is excellent; novel and convincing; so powerfully and attractively treated.”—Manchester Courier.
“The book is graphic in its descriptions and very amusing.”—Scotsman.
NEW STORY.
WYNDHAM’S DAUGHTER.
By ANNIE S. SWAN.
In cloth gilt,6s.
A FEW PRESS OPINIONS.
“This is a story which every girl should read. We do not often meet with a book so unfeignedly wholesome and sincere as is ‘Wyndham’s Daughter.’”—British Weekly.
“Exceedingly agreeable and healthy reading, and will bear comparison with any of her previous works.”—Scotsman.
London: HUTCHINSON & CO., Paternoster Row.
Transcriber’s NoteArchaic and variant spelling is preserved as printed. Further, as noted at the beginning, all misspelling in quoted matter is likewise preserved as printed.The following notes apply only to the other (i.e. non-quoted) material in the book.Punctuation errors have been repaired.Hyphenation and accent usage has been made consistent.The following amendments have been made:Page26—repeated 'and' deleted—... as he scanned him, face and figure, ...Page46—Frederic amended to Frederick—... which was the great Emperor Frederick II.’s favourite ...Page293—conversasation amended to conversation—... many of whom could hold sufficient conversation with Italians.
Transcriber’s Note
Archaic and variant spelling is preserved as printed. Further, as noted at the beginning, all misspelling in quoted matter is likewise preserved as printed.
The following notes apply only to the other (i.e. non-quoted) material in the book.
Punctuation errors have been repaired.
Hyphenation and accent usage has been made consistent.
The following amendments have been made:
Page26—repeated 'and' deleted—... as he scanned him, face and figure, ...Page46—Frederic amended to Frederick—... which was the great Emperor Frederick II.’s favourite ...Page293—conversasation amended to conversation—... many of whom could hold sufficient conversation with Italians.
Page26—repeated 'and' deleted—... as he scanned him, face and figure, ...
Page46—Frederic amended to Frederick—... which was the great Emperor Frederick II.’s favourite ...
Page293—conversasation amended to conversation—... many of whom could hold sufficient conversation with Italians.