11 FEBRUARY 1899, Page 25

Martha and I: being Scenes from Subwban Life. By R.

Andom. Illustrated by Alec C. Gould. (Jerrold and Sons. 3s. 6d.)—Martha and I deals, in a vein of innocent but not very subtle humour, with the vicissitudes of bourgeois life in a new suburb. Mr. Andom's troubles with putty and tar, with tax-gatherers and cyclists ; the adventure of the bat and his accidental ch"but as a pickpocket:are the sort of thing for a schoolboy to &roar with roars of laughter. The book is so absolutely harmless that it would be unkind to call it vulgar, though it certainly has not distinction.