Hutchinson's New Novels. 7/6 Net
Antagonisms By ELIZABETH ROBINS
Author of "The Magnetic North," etc.
In her new book Miss Robins gives us a most arresting story and an extremely clever psychological study.
Henry Ellerton, whose experience of women, his late wife included, has been most unfortunate, returns, a confirmed woman-hater, to his remote English estate after the war, to find that a widow with her son has secured the lease of the house nearest to his. The first encounter between the two is significant; mistaking him for a tramp, the widow orders him off the premises, but they gradually become better acquainted and arouse the hostility of the lady's son, a young soldier who from the first is bitterly opposed to the friendship. The boy returns to his regiment, but his mother's secretary, who is in love with him, keeps watch and sends for him when scandalous tales begin to circulate in the neighbourhood. The rest of the book represents the difficulty of a man and woman in middle life, faced on the one hand by the rigid dictates of convention, and on the other by the habits and prejudices of years.
The author has chosen difficult types for her chief characters, but she has drawn them with a skill and consistency which will surprise even those readers who know her best. With its deep human interest and original plot, "Antagonisms" is a book which will appeal to all.
The Fire Opal By HELEN PROTHERO LEWIS
Author of "Love and the Whirlwind," etc.
The story of a beautiful girl, Iris Mordaunt, who has a bad family history. Her father drinks himself mad and has to be removed to a lunatic asylum. Her mother had previously run away from her husband with another man, and her husband had refused to divorce her. An uncle is appointed as guardian to Iris. The family weakness for drink shows itself in her even at the age of ten. Her uncle does not drink, but he perceives the tendency in her, encourages it, and in many subtle ways strives to wreck her, so that he may obtain absolute control of the situation and the property.
Her mother, a beautiful woman, forsaken by her lover, tries to get possession of her child, but the uncle cunningly frustrates her just as she is on the eve of success. She leaves behind for Iris her most cherished ornament, a magnificent opal.
Written by this popular authoress, it is a moving tale with a strong human interest.
A Desert Cain By KATHLYN RHODES
Author of "The Will of Allah," etc.
A collection of stories by one of the most widely read of living authors, who paints with her pen vivid pictures of the fire and passion of the East.
Each story is beautifully finished, the settings varying from the desert, Cairo, the Nile and India to London at the present day and a little English fishing village.
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