I030 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



December l, 191S. 



The Lodger. Bv Mrs. Belloc Lowndes. 



(Methuen. 3/6.) 

 A very clever character study of a hus- 

 band and wife who let lodgings. Lack of 

 lodgers lead to starvation, when, in the 

 nick of time, a stranger applies for their 

 rooms. Quiet, a gentleman, and easily 

 pleased, for some days Mr. and Mrs. Bunt- 

 ing suppose that the "lodger " is simply 

 an eccentric, and the wife begins to feel 

 very kindly towards him. A young detec- 

 tive is a frequent visitor — in fact, he has 

 fallen in love with Bunting's daughter. 

 Just at that time the "Jack the Ripper" 

 murders were flooding the country with 

 horror, and slowly it begins to dawn first 

 upon the wife and then upon the husband 

 that their lodger is the criminal. Neither 

 tells the other, and Mrs. Lowndes' great 

 talent is employed in depicting the struggle 

 in their minds between unw^illing convic- 

 tion and a hope that their good lodger is 

 not the man. The love story gives a 

 needed relief to the gruesomeness of the 

 topic. 



Below Stairs. By Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick. 

 (Methuen. 3/6.) 

 A novel which is absorbing, though the 

 heroine is only a little " 'tweenie " maid. 

 Her story, starting from her childhood, 

 with a mother and father gradually sink- 

 ing into deeper poverty, is simply and 

 naturally told, and to those who know the 

 workings of a country parish or servant 

 life in the suburbs of London, it bears 

 the stamp of reality. 



Th9 Prince's Shadow. By Mrs. Baillie- 

 Saunders. (Hodder. 3/6.) 

 A novel that goes with a swing from be- 

 ginning to end. The plot concerns one 

 of those Ruritarian princes who are exiled, 

 become kings later, and make such very 

 convenient heroes. 



The IVIischief-maker. By E. Phillips Op- 

 penheim. (Hodder. 3 '6.) 

 A clever manipulation of a German Chan- 

 cellor who nearly succeeded in spoiling 

 the entente between France and England, 

 with a view of devouring England when 

 the two countries were parted. It goes 

 without saying that there is a large amount 

 of detective interest and an unusual love 

 story. 



Both Sides of the Road. Bv B. A. Clark. 



(Ward, Lock. 3/6.) 

 Nineteen stories told by a keen observer, 

 gifted with humour which, though sarcas- 

 tic, is also kindly. Five deal with the grim 

 aspects of London poverty ; of the others, 

 the " Experiment of the ' Bald Barber,' " 

 " The Consul." and the cricket stories are 

 the most unusual. 



The Regent. By Arnold Bennett. (Methuen. 



3/6.) 

 Further adventures of the " Card, " show- 

 ing him as the proprietor of a London 

 theatre. Here at first his good luck deserts 

 him, but after an adventurous journey to 

 New York, he brings down the house by 

 inducing a militant suffragette to take part 

 in the performance. The breezy humour 

 of " Denry " and his treatment of his 



womenkind is too notorious to need fur- 

 ther remark, except that those expecting 

 the somewhat depressing atmosphere of 

 five-towns stories will find the " Regent " 

 really laughter-provoking. 



General John Regan. By George .\. Bir- 

 mingham. (Hodder. 3/6.) 



That delightsome Irish humour which puts 

 up a statue to a man who had never 

 existed, provides a tiny seaport with three 

 piers when one was scarcely needed, and 

 creates a Dr. Lucius O'Grady to carry on 

 the wildest pranks the brain of man could 

 conceive, scarcely needs recommendation 

 here. 



The Way of Ambition. By Robert Hichens. 

 (Methuen. 3/6.) 

 Part of the action of the story takes place 

 in Algeria, where a musician, Claude 

 Heath, and his wife stay for a time in 

 order that he may compose the music for 

 the Eastern opera which is to make him 

 famous. Into his life comes a beautiful 

 girl, who, realising that she cannot attain 

 notoriety in her own person, determines 

 to attain it through a possible husband. 

 The study of the two characters, their 

 weaknesses, and the strength which comes 

 to them through failure is very clever, 

 and carries the sympathy of the reader. 

 Claude Heath, working for public approval, 

 loses his nobility, and his wife by lying 

 deteriorates. Robert Hichens shows that 

 success or failure only matters really as it 

 affects character. 



The Governor of England. By Marjorie 

 Bowon. (Methuen. 3/6.) 

 Miss Bowen has taken Oliver Cromwell 

 for the hero of this romance. Taking his 

 own words in letters and speeches as a 

 foundation, she has woven her plot in such 

 fashion that he appears as having just 

 those qualities a noble gentleman, well 

 born and in easy circumstances, should 

 possess, but tinctured from the first with 

 the sombreness of outlook which accom- 

 panied his Calvinistic faith. Ambition she 

 utterly denies him ; religion was the breath 

 of his life. 



The Dream Ship. Bv Cynthia Stocklev. 

 (Constable and Melville & Mullen. 3/6.) 

 A powerful story by the author of 

 " Poppy,'' " The Claw," and other popu- 

 lar novels. Full of dramatic interest ; 

 somewhat overdone at times. The plot 

 turns on the re-appearance of Valentine 

 Valdana's " dead " husband. The story is 

 laid in .'Vmerca, France and Italy. Many 

 charming characters are introduced, drawn 

 with Miss Stockley's usual skill. Will be 

 a much-talked-of book. 



The Fordington Twins. Bv E. Newton 

 Bungey. (Lynwood, 3/6.) 

 An amusing story, in which the twins — 

 who, by the way^ commence life in a fried- 

 fish shop — inherit a great property, and 

 in spite of dropping their "h's" and 

 making a bran-pie of English grammar, 

 contrive to do a large amount of good, 

 and keep the village bright with laugh- 

 ter. 



