More Cricket Songs | Page 8

peculiarly delicate handling. Had it been handled in a way that combined a really high literary standard with more stirring qualities? The question requires no answer now, for the triumph which the publisher at once foretold on reading the manuscript has been more than attained, and "The House of Merrilees" is indisputably the novel of the season. It has at the same time demonstrated to the publishing trade that a sensational story does not labour under any disadvantage by the abduction of literary style.

In a wholly different vein are "The Discipline of Christine" and "The Unequal Yoke," by Mrs. Barr�� Goldie and Mrs. H.H. Penrose respectively. In the former the ways and moods of childhood are depicted in original and inimitable fashion, which makes it safe to predict that the author will go far beyond her first effort as a novelist. In "The Unequal Yoke" Mrs. Penrose has taken for her theme the love story of a clergyman whose benefice is an Irish coast town, and in whose flock prominence is attained by narrow zeal rather than by amiability. He is really a good man, and is lucky enough, or the reverse, to win the hand of a delightful young lady whose charms, however, do not command the unanimous approval of the parishioners. The possession of high musical attainments makes her temperament all the more interesting, and accounts for the presence in so remote a district of her German friend whose acute sense of the ridiculous leads to such untoward results. It is hard to say whether the author's talents are best evinced by her true pathos or by the delicate touches of humour which pervade the book. Another commendable feature of the novel is an alert skill in construction which stamps it as a thoroughly artistic production.
~Ready May 2.~
~The Soul of London.~ FORD MADOX HUEFFER. Author of "The Life of Madox Brown," "The Face of the Night," &c. Imperial 16mo, 5s. nett.

~Ready May 9.~
~More Cricket Songs.~ NORMAN GALE. Imperial 16mo, 2s. nett.

~New Edition. Now Ready.~
~Spring Blossoms and Summer Fruit.~ JOHN BYLES. Cloth, Crown 8vo, 1s._ 6_d. nett.
These "Sunday Morning Talks to Children" are full of charm and suggestive thought.
"We can hardly praise too highly the beauty and exquisite simplicity of these talks."--Literary World.
London: ALSTON RIVERS, 13, Arundel Street.
Mr. Reginald Turner has already achieved such distinction as an author of superior fiction (witness the success of his "Comedy of Progress" and "Cynthia's Damages,") that a cordial reception was assured for his latest book "Peace on Earth." It is a pathetic story that he has to tell; of the sorrows of the outcast amid poverty, and the rage against law and government provoked thereby; of the less obvious, but equally poignant, griefs which smoulder beneath the surface of "comfortable circumstances." The plot is, in short, one that in the hands of any other than a thorough man of the world, would fail hopelessly, which makes Mr. Turner's complete and undoubted success all the more meritorious.
"The Countermine_" is the work of Mr. Arthur Wenlock, whose "As Down of Thistle_" showed considerable promise, though perhaps his subtle vein of sardonic philosophy escaped due recognition. As its name denotes, the interest in the new novel is largely military; in every line the soldier, with his nice sense of honour, his virility, and his direct methods, stands revealed. "The Countermine" is certainly a most thrilling tale, and should raise the author to the front rank of writers on "Service" topics. Of Mr. Thomas Cobb, whose reputation is already firmly established, it is only necessary to say that in "_The Friendships of Veronica_" his fertile and resourceful pen is at its best if, indeed, his literary reputation has not been substantially advanced.
~The Alston Rivers' Shilling Library~.

~Creatures that once were Men~. MAXIM GORKY. With Introductory by G.K. CHESTERTON.
~Lovers in London~. A.A. MILNE.
"'A Coming Humorist.' ... In Mr. Milne it may not be extravagant to descry a writer with a future before him."--_Evening Standard and St. James's Gazette_.
~Change for a Halfpenny~. C.L.G. and E.V.L.
The hustling methods of modernity possess undoubted possibilities for humorous treatment, and no one has appreciated the fact more keenly than the authors of "Wisdom While you Wait." In this their latest work the prospectus of the Napolio Syndicate forms a bowstring whence fly shafts of satire that hit the mark every time.
~The Loot of Cities~. ARNOLD BENNETT.
~Publican and Serf~.
A striking study of nomadic life among the peasant classes, translated from the Russian by J.K.M. SHIRAZI.
It is one thing to be a famous writer; it is another to be widely read. Maxim Gorky is at present included in both categories, though as regards the second condition he had scarcely qualified prior to the publication of "Creatures that once were Men." It was a bold venture, for all the former successes in shilling form were either