THE WINE OF ILLUSION. By Bruce Beddow. (Cassell. 7s. 6d.)
The son of a small greengrocer in a country town writes a novel and makes money by it. His success turns his • head. He thinks, and his relations think; that fortune- and lie in his pen. He marries, and the public opinion-of his little circle force- him to live above his income. At the. same- time his father is made a town councillor, and subjected to the same rather ridiculous temptations. Money, anxieties and the shadow of impending rum destroy- in -both- father and son the -zest for • work and the power of enjoyment. In the case of the son, the innocent vulgarity of his wife and the criminal rapacity of -his mother-in-law -complete -his misery. His talent is dissipated, his home wrecked. Ha stoops to Make money by stump oratory in a -cause he does not-believe in. The reader sees him "go under" without much' pity. The--moral of the story seems to be that the man-who en- deavours to change his "standard of living-" must9Io so -at-' the sacrifice -of his soul—a dull and unconvincing. gospel.• THE SAINT OF THE SPEEDWELL. By Ridgw-ell-
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