Cecilia Kirkham's Son. By Mrs. Kenneth Combe. (W. Blackwood and
Sons. 6s.)—The Indian chapters of this clever story are very much better reading than the account of the relations between Mrs. Kirkham and her son Charles, who is the hero of the book. It is, in fact, rather provoking, when the reader is thoroughly interested in the question of what is the real position of " Captain Wilson" and how his relations to the nominally loyal Rajah of Tahlagur are to be discovered, to have the story suddenly switched off to England and the interest transferred to the psychology of the relations between a mother and her son. To • do the author justice, the Indian thread is maintained in this . part of the book by means of Mr. Nalogee, a gentleman who is apparently engaged in helping a medical mission in Tahlagur. . By an ingenious device Mr. Nalogee makes his excellent and well- moaning English friends pay for the importation of arms and ammunition for the use of disloyal natives in India ; but in spite of this contrivance, this abrupt change is a serious defect. The adventure at the end of the book is well managed, and the story, though rather ill constructed, has no dull moments.
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