The Fog. By William Dudley Pelley. (Melrose. 7s. 6d.) The
Fog is a very long novel of American life, setting forth the troubles and adventures of Nathan Forge, the son of a cobbler in Paris, Vt., by occupation a tanner and by inclination a poet. The sentimentality of its theme may procure it popularity, though not, one suspects, the sucOs fou its is anticipates. Its unquestionable staying-power s re- inforced by occasional bursts of real vitality ; there is abun- dance of incident and the characterization of the minor figures, though always exaggerated, is sometimes good. But as a work of art it leaves much to be desired. Both the principal characters are idealists, or rather megalomaniacs ; Forge is anxious to outsoar the fogs and shadows of provincialism into a region of " art drawing-moms shaded at midnight " ; while Madelaine Theddon, ostensibly absorbed in the regeneration of her friends, is inflamed by a secret longing for an ideal MAN, who shall have risen superior to every blow of fortune. Nathan's attainment of his ambition (it involves hairbreadth escapes, vividly described, from Bolsheviks in Siberia) enables Madelaine to realize hers ; and the two enjoy together the " Amethyst Moment " of which they had long dreamed. Divorced from the sentimentalized gospel of efficiency which serves it for an ethical code, The Fog might have made a readable book. Not a good one ; for its problems, always solved by a dens ex machine friendly to the hero and heroine, are unreal, and its style too often resembles an imperfect megaphone, loud and indistinct.
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