Stories of girls who have to reach happiness and fortune
by the thorny and circuitous road of difficulty are common enough ; and in this sense Edith Lawson, by R. Bates (White), may be said to be an essentially commonplace story. Yet it is very much above the average of novels,—a fact which is no doubt clue to the earnestness, both artistic and in a sense also ethical, of its author. He (perhaps she) has striven to give as much variety of oountry life and character as could well be given even in three volumes by way either of surroundings or of background to Edith Lawson, the heroine, who is the daughter of a mysterious artist, and has a lover almost as mysterious. Perhaps there are too many characters, and sets of characters ; one is apt to confound the Smythes with the Boyde, and the Boyds with some other folks. Although the plot is a fairly good one, as readers who have patience to finish the third volume will probably allow, the story is essentially a study of still life in the shape of the various families that the heroine is con. 'rooted with in the course of the book. There is a good deal of humour, both intentional and unintentional, in Edith Lawson. The device by which Mr. Smythe recovers both his authority in his house and the love of his wife by arousing her jealousy, is a good practical joke of its kind, although we must regret that the author of this book, who seldom descends to vulgarity of any kind, should have made Mr. Smythe come back from a holiday trip with " a supply of French novels and a collection of portraits of Parisian actresses and ladies of the demi-monde for his personal use and pleasure." The story of the hapless love of Arthur Burnett and Mary Ewing is full of genuine pathos ; yet it is hardly possible to read without a smile a passage in it like this :—" Arthur,' she said, as she leaned forward to pull up her lover's coat-collar, put your handker- chief to your mouth as you cross the garden, and don't breathe the night air. Don't forget your cough elixir, and see that your bedroom window is quite closed.' " Taken all in all, however, Edith Lawson is as good a story of its kind as we have recently come across.
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