11 MAY 1878, Page 25

Through my Spectacles. By Proavia." 3 vols. (Sampson Low and

Co.)—This is a novel of the future,—of a time when woman shall have made good the claim to have a full share in the management of the affairs of life. It is always difficult to write a story of which the cir- cumstances are wholly imaginary. If it is to be done, it is better to transport the reader bodily to another planet. In the tale before us, there is a perplexing of the familiar and Vie strange. We seem to recognise the scenes, and yet there is an unreality about them. There are signs of ability about this book, and if it fails, it fails because of the intrinsic difficulty of the subject. But we must confess that we did not find it easy reading. However, the love-story might have been transferred from the twentieth century, or whatever is the date of the narrative, to the nineteenth, without any damage, and this is sufficiently interesting and well told.