14 AUGUST 1926, Page 23

FLY LEAVES. By Mrs. Henry Dudeney. (Collins. 7s. 6d. net.)—These

eleven stories together take a section across one of the least inspiriting areas of life—that of small cottages, the aged poor, and the bitter longings of the obscure and bewildered. The author has a real talent for creating an atmosphere of terror and calamity, and while the tales turn persistently to the darker side of life, they are lit by moments of strange tenderness and understanding.