A Wooing of Ate: By John Olive. 3 vols. (Chapman
and Hall.) —Here we have the old problem of whether a man should marry into a family where there is a taint of hereditary insanity. We are introduced in the first chapter to two friends discussing it ; each declares his opinion on the matter. Before long, in a very unexpected way, an occasion arises for reducing theory to practice. The affair is compli- cated by the unprincipled scheming of one of the persons concerned, and the reader's interest is further stimulated by suspense about the hero's fate ; only that, after a long experience of novels, suspense is an
emotion which it is not easy to excite. The story is written with some ability, and some of the characters, notably Netts and Lord Overbury, are drawn with distinctness ; but the subject is not a really good ono, and the general impression is not favourable.
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