16 APRIL 1881, Page 22

A Story of Autumn. By Mrs. Comyns Carr. (Remington and

Co.) —Mrs. Comyn Carr has written a slight, graceful story, with just that fragrance of autumn leaves about it that suits the title. There is not much force or passion in the book, and the end is decidedly grey ; but it is quite without affectation, and it has no morbid note about it, which, considering that the story is supposed to be told by

an old-maid of herself, is very creditable. The book lacks any joyous note, but this can hardly be looked for under the circumstances, and the self-sacrifice that ends the romance is none the loss sad for being inevitable. It is not a story that is likely to be appreciated by the young people of the present day, ns neither the incidents nor the way in which they are told are in the least exciting, but the characters are natural and quite sufficiently marked to be interesting. Its very slightness gives the book a certain charm, as the experiences it deals with are just those that have made the romance of so many seemingly unruffled lives. What mars the book greatly is the want of care with which it has been written. There are passages of which it is impossible to make sense, and which might easily have been set right by a little revision before going to press. Such carelessness is inexcusable, and suggests amateur rather than artistic workmanship.