A Gay Charmer. By L. T. Meade. (W. and R.
Chambers. 6s.) —Shirley Kendal comes to the country home where Julia Cairns is the only child. She is beautiful, lively, and accomplished, and
she makee Julia fearfully jealous. Hence all kinds of troubles. Mrs. Meade knows how to work up such a situation in a most tragical way. When the dew ex machina is wanted there comes a railway accident, all but fataL This is a very vigorous, enjoyable story.—The Girlhood of Theo. By Cecil Darby. (Wells Gardner, Darton, and Co. 3s. 6d.)—The merit of this story is more in the telling of the tale than in the tale itself. "Uncle Colin," the scholar with just a touch of the hermit, Theo herself, the arbitrary Lady Glendarroch, and little Robin are all well- drawn figures. Their fortunes do not particularly interest us. —In The Daughters of a Genius (W. and R. Chambers, 3s. 6d.), Mrs. de Horne Vaizey develops a familiar situation. Four sisters, left with little means, determine to seek their fortunes in London. Four is a good number, for it gives scope for variety of temperament—only Miss Charlotte Yonge could manage a family of twelve—and there are two brothers, the industrious and the idle apprentice respectively. These tales of fortune-seeking are always interesting, the more so as the employments open to women increase. What a pity, from the tale-writer's point of view, that the Judges do not see their way to let them claim a call to the Bar! However, there is already plenty of variety, and for the failures—always pretty, it is to be observed—there remains matrimony.
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