11 DECEMBER 1920, Page 21

READABLE NOVELS.—Unreality. By " Bartimeus." (Cassell. Ss. 6d. net.)—The title

might be applied to the story, for the book opens in the middle of the war when the heroine is eleven, and therefore the events of the concluding chapters, when she is quite grown up, cannot possibly have taken place yet. The atmosphere of life in the Navy is well kept up throughout, and a note of serious warning as to the coming colour problem is sounded towards the end of the book.—A Gift of the Dusk. By R. 0. Prowse. (Collins. 9s. net.)—This novel is a close analysis of a few mouths spent in a sanatorium in the high Alps. No outside events occur in the story, and a death and a funeral are the only distractions. The book is too well written to bq dull, but it is decidedly morbid.—The Daffodil Mystery. By Edgar Wallace. (Ward, Lock. 7s. net.)—A detective story in which the initial murder is committed by a character • (1) The Select By Douglas GoldrIng and Hubert Nepeon. London: C. W. 'Dania th.]---(2)Derekpreent By W. Bryher. London ; Constable. I7s.taL nett

so obvious that the reader will quite fail to suspect him. In-

terest is well kept up throughout. When the Blood Burne. By E. W. Savi. (Putnam. Is. 6d, net.)—As usual with the author of this book, the scenes which pass in India are much the most interesting. Mrs. Savi should study her Debrett, and then she would not make a baronetcy descend through a female. The story deals with the inevitable consequences of an irregular alliance.—The Wind Between the Worlds. By Alice Brown. (Macmillan. 10s. net.)—An American spiritualistic story deal- ing with a bereaved mother who endeavours to get into touch with her son—killed in the war. Madame Brooke, the grand- mother of the dead boy, is much the most interesting and uncon- ventional character in the book, and in her the author depicts an exclusively American type.