11 JANUARY 1902, Page 23

T Bacca Queen. By Theodora Wilson Wilson. (E. Arnold. Gs.)—In

this book there are two threads of story, at times closely woven together, at others too loosely connected for a quite satisfactory artistic effect. The events take place partly in the musical German society of Weimar and partly in Farbiggin, a manufacturing town in the North of England. The chief interest lies in the character of the girl, Nell Carradus, called by her fellow-workers in the factory " T' Bacca Queen." Her drunken and degraded mother tries to drag her down to her own depths, but Nell's better nature triumphs, and she rises superior to the misery and wickedness of her surroundings.