10 OCTOBER 1891, Page 11

The Brown Owl. By Ford H. Madox Hueffer. (T. Fisher

Unwin.)—The author has not succeeded in that most difficult of tasks, the writing of a new fairy-tale. It is almost impossible to preserve what may be called the absolute unconsciousness that we see in our old friends, "The White Cat" and its fellows. These fairy-tales are related with just as much simplicity and gravity as if they were narratives of the most matter-of-fact kind. Here the writer seems always to be making an effort. 'See what a strange thing this is !' he seems to say. And his fancy, to speak candidly, wants freshness and delicacy. The frontispiece is a very pretty picture; the others we cannot bring ourselves to admire.