Good Dame Fortune. By Maria H. Hoyer. 3 vols. (Hurst
and Blackett.)—We wish that we had more of this simple, pleasant, well-written kind of novel. William Johnson, a fairly wealthy bachelor of middle age, wakes up to the consciousness of being alone in the world, with no idea who is to succeed him. He goes down to his native place on a search for relatives, and meets with a very interesting amount of success. After that journey, indeed, he can no more complain of being alone ; he finds himself one of the chief characters in a brisk little drama that has been waiting, it would seem, for his appearance to come upon the stage. There is a very attractive heroine in Molly Scobell, and the part of the soubrette, to continue the use of theatrical phrase, is well performed by Patty. This young woman's management of the soft-hearted policeman who is set to watch the cottage—Molly, it must be understood, has a ne'er-do- weel brother—is admirable. The old miller is rather too melo- dramatic. His delight in learning that the woman who rejected him died in want is too hideous. But, on the whole, Good Dame Fortune is a distinctly good novel.
Previous page
