Valeria : a Story of Venice. (Richard Bentley.)—A very well
told story this of the Venetian struggle for independence in 1848. A young Piedmontese noble visits a Venetian family, to make acquaint. ance with his betrothed. He falls in love with the wrong sister, a daring patriot, who has ventured, in disguise, to do many services for the national cause. She has given her heart to an Austrian officer whom she believes to be a convert to the patriotic party. There is a considerable interest in the working-out of the story, of which these are the main outlines ; but the chief merit of the book is its graphic pictures of some of the scenes of the struggle. Nor does it want a true moral, when it draws a contrast between the straightforward devotion of the young Piedmontese and the Venetian's intriguing ingenuity.
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