A Woman's Ambition. By Henry Cresswell. 3 vols. (Hurst and
Blackett.)—Even Mr. Cresswoll has rarely created a more startling and elaborate deception than that which a "woman's ambition" devises in this clever novel. Nor has the personality of a murderer ever been more completely concealed in any novel ; indeed, in any fiction whatsoever. Not till the actual confession is made, do we grasp the identity of the criminal, and realise the whole nature of the individual in question. Mr. Cresswell's women are always cleverer than his men, and, artistically speaking, better ; and A Woman's Ambition is no exception to the rule, for there are one or two delicate studies of female character. The principal female character, however, remains for over an enigma ; and the men, curiously enough, seem also to lack a completeness. But in spite of the want of satisfaction the reader will feel with the finishing touches of the portraits of the actors, he will rise from A Woman's Ambition convinced that a more real and vivid story has never come from the author. There is nothing that jars on the reader, as, for instance, parts of "The Hermits of Crizebeck" did ; and we might place A Woman's Ambition, for its tone, first in Mr. Cresswell's stories. Certainly the surprise of the real criminal is a literary stroke of groat force ; and the touches of the Cornish coast scenery are not the least attractive pages of the story. Every one ought to read A Woman's Ambition.
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