Edward Arnold <fc Co.'s Autumn Announcements. 11 



THE BIRTHMARK. 



By ALAN SULLIVAN. 

 Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. net. 



Mr. Sullivan's book is a sheer delight. Conceived in a spirit of 

 satiric comedy, it is packed with witticisms that keep the reader 

 chuckling happily to himself from the first page to the last. 



To Molding-on-the-Ooze, in " the lowest, flattest and dampest 

 section of the Midlands," the seat of Henry Hardinger, Esq., come 

 Colonel and Mrs. Bostwick, desiring its owner as a husband for 

 their daughter Grace. Henry (who looks on life " as something 

 between a polo match and a satiric comedy ") has no money 'f the 

 Colonel has no money : each is ignorant of the other's want : each 

 sees in Grace a solution of his difficulty. Every one takes a hand 

 in the game of deceits, and as all concerned are both deceivers and 

 deceived, the complications and the fun can be imagined. 



Mr. Sullivan is never at a loss : he *' keeps the ball rolling '* 

 merrily. Unhesitatingly he puts his finger on the laughter-feedmg 

 qualities in every one and every thing. He mocks, but it is with a 

 kindly mockery that adds zest to life. 



As for the Birthmark — the part it plays in the game it would be 

 unfair to reveal, but the comedy both above and below stairs makes 

 joyous reading. To all who enjoy laughter we recommend this 

 whimsical and witty book. 



SMITE THE ROCK. 



By OSWALD H. DAVIS, 



Author op " Soft Goods." 

 Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. net. 



All readers of Mr. Davis's brilUant first novel must have looked 

 forward with eager interest to a second book from his pen. They 

 will not be disappointed. 



" Smite the Rock " is, like " Soft Goods," a chronicle of the 

 great Midland city of Ardencester, and is marked by the same 

 sincerity and fineness of detail that distinguished the earher book. 

 Life in a provincial city : the niceties of its class distinctions : its 

 " high teas " : its chapel '* socials " : the ughness of its industrial- 

 ism, are described with a vividness that is almost imcanny. 



Against these pettinesses of existence : these social differentia- 

 tions : the drabness of the workers' hves : the things that " always 

 have been and always will be," Frank Calder rebelled. The son 

 of an employer and a capitalist, he ranges himself on the side of 



