The "motive" of Mrs. Pumfrey Lord's new novel is Christian Science, and
the hero, the Duke of Southminster, is understood to be a composite
portrait of Lord ROSEBERY and Mr. GLADSTONE. The character of the evil
genius of the plot, Lord Rufus Doldrum, is partly modelled on
ALCIBIADES, but in its main lines is reminiscent of Mrs. EDDY and Major
WINSTON CHURCHILL. On the other hand the eccentric Lord Wymondham, who
creates a sensation by appearing at a Cabinet meeting in
accordion-pleated pyjamas, is understood to be an entirely imaginary
personage. The novel, which has been running in _Wanamaker's Weekly_,
will shortly be published by the Strongmans.
A Poet who Counts.
Mr. Ouseley Pampfield, who has been recuperating at Buxton after
spraining his ankle while getting out of his magnificent motor, is now
seeing his new volume of poems through the press. Under the arresting
title of _The Soul of a Passivist_ they will shortly be published by the
firm of Coddler and Slack.
The Jimmisons Again.
The Long Lanes will shortly publish a new "Jimmison" novel, The
_Factota_. The heroine is a young lady enamoured of the doctrine of the
economic independence of women. She enters a Draper's Emporium in
Manchester and works her way up to the post of manager, but heads a
strike of the work-girls. The claims of romance, however, are not
overlooked, for in the long run _Retta Carboy_--for that is her charming
name--wins the hand and heart of the junior partner's chauffeur, who
turns out to be son of the Earl of Ancoats. The scene in which the
Rolls-Royce, frightened by the sight of some Highland cattle, executes a
cross-cut counter-rocking skid, is one of the finest things the
Jimmisons have ever done.
Armageddon in the Making.
Governesses, so long the butt of unkindly satire, have at last come by
their own. Miss Bertha Bowlong, who was governess to the KAISER in the
late "sixties," is shortly about to publish her reminiscences of her now
all-too-notorious pupil. Strange to say it never occurred to her to set
them down till quite recently, nearly fifty years after the event. The
book, which is now announced by the Talboys, is rich in illuminating
anecdotes of the future WAR LORD, as well as vivid portraits of MOLTKE,
BISMARCK, TREITSCHKE, MÜNCHHAUSEN, Eulenspiegel, Dudelsack and other
luminaries of the Prussian capital.
The Charm of Cannibalism.
Miss Ermyntrude Stuggy (Mrs. Raymond Blott), whose extraordinary novel,
_The Lurid Lady_, was described by Father BERNARD VAUGHAN as the most
"precipitous" book he had ever preached on, has returned to England
after two years' residence among the cannibals of the Solomon Islands.
Hence the title of her forthcoming volume, _The Adorable Anthropophagi_,
which is already announced by Messrs. Hybrow and Garbidge. The contents
explain why Mr. Blott has heroically preferred to remain with the
cannibals.
Major Finch's Great Discovery.
Major Hector Finch, the famous Nationalist M.P., philosopher,
psychologist and scholar, has made a remarkable literary discovery. It
is that _Johnson's Dictionary_ is not, as is generally supposed, the
work of BEN JONSON, but of SAMUEL JOHNSON, the son of a Lichfield
bookseller. This epoch-making revelation, briefly and modestly outlined
in a letter to _The Daily Chronicle_, will be set forth in detail in a
massive volume of 1,000 pages, with a portrait of the author, to be
issued shortly by the House of Swallow and Gull.
Odds and Ends.
_The Vegetarians_, a novel with a strong dietetic interest by Janet
Melinda Didham, is announced by the firm of Gherkin Mark.
_The Molly Monologues_ is the alluring title of a volume of sketches by
Richard Turpin, shortly appearing with Pincher and Steel.
Miss Loofah Windsor, who wrote _The Washpot_, a successful story of last
summer, has just finished a new one of a humorous type, called _What--no
Soap_? which the Dinwiddies will publish in a month or two.
* * * * *
"A few lucky corps actually had geese to pave the way for the
Christmas pudding; they were quartered in some place where a
whip round among the officers and a ride to the nearest town or
village secured enough geese to feed a battalion."
_Jersey Morning News_.
Somehow we feel that this might have been more tactfully expressed.
* * * * *
"Mr. Dillon harangued the House for three-quarters of an hour on
militarism, _The Daily Mail_, Suvla BaBy, and sundry other
topics."
_Daily Mail_.
An extended report of his remarks on this interesting infant would have
been welcome.
* * * * *