15 DECEMBER 1923, Page 30

THE FORGE IN THE FOREST. By Charles G. D. Roberts.

(Dent. 4s. 6d. net.) The Forge in the Forest is a thrilling story—thrilling in the manner of Stevenson, with whom the author has a decided kinship, though his work is entirely individual. He is already well known as the writer of delightful nature books, and in this book also, though it is not primarily about nature, one immediately notices the sure touch of a lover of earth who not only loves, but knows. Mr. Roberts belongs to that gracious company which includes writers so various as Thoreau, Stevenson, Hudson, Mrs. Gaskell, Miss Mitford and Mary Wilkins. The reader is the willing bondsman of these charming people. He does not mind what they write about, so long as they will write. It may be only letters, or it may be a story like Catriona. If there is in it the delicate emanation of the writer's soul, all is well. Mr. Roberts has, in this book, achieved a style which is at once vivid, limpid and strong.