12 OCTOBER 1901, Page 23

Sylvia's Ambition. By Adeline Sergeant. (Hodder and Stoughton. 6s.)—Miss Sergeant's

simple little story is a relief after the above rather pretentious romances. Sylvia is a young actress who does not make very much of her profession, and whose mother, at one time also an actress, tells a dreadful fib as to her parentage for her greater worldly advancement. However, the fib is confessed, and Sylvia's marriage to the excellent hero puts a comfortable end to her histrionic ambitions. This is the sort of book to be enjoyed when sitting with one's feet in the fender eating muffin for tea.