13 NOVEMBER 1909, Page 27

Stradella. By F. Marion Crawford. (Macmillan and Co. 6s.) —Detailed

criticism of the last work of Mr. Marion Crawford is perhaps out of place. It is sufficient to say that Stradella deals with the love story of a Venetian lady of the seventeenth century who runs away with Stradella the musician. The book is possessed of much old-world charm, and Ortensia, the heroine, is exceedingly attractive. The two bravi, Trombin and Gambardella, who play a great part in the events, are perhaps rather more conventional figures than their author intended ; but, as a whole, the book will make Mr. Crawford's readers more than ever regret that the pen has fallen from his hands, and that he will be the author of no more novels of Italy.