Bellerne. By W. M. L. Jay. (Griffith, Parma', and Co.)—This
book has been written and printed in America, and is full of American peculiarities, from the spelling upwards. It professes to be the narrative told by a pastor's wife of their experiences in a new charge. As a matter of fact, these experiences are not very important. The real plot of the story is concerned with the somewhat improbable adventures of a certain Hugh Ennadeen. Rolf Kenworth is suspected of having murdered an uncle whose next heir lie was. A stranger, giving the name of Hugh Enna- deen, but bearing a curious resemblance to the missing Rolf, conies back and takes up his residence in the old house. The town is divided on the question,—Is he or is he not Rolf At last he is arrested and tried. And then it turns out that he is not the man, but is exceedingly like him, and that he has come with the object of establishing the real man's innocence. Some details of this curious plot are well described, and there are good episodes ; but the whole is too extravagant really to please.— Flower de Hundred, by Mrs. Barton Harrison (Cassell and Co.), comes from the same quarter, but is a much superior article. It is the story of an old Virginian family which comes to the crisis of its fortunes in the Civil War. The author's standpoint is naturally that of the Confederate cause, but she tells her tale without rancour. There are domestic complications in the family history, as well as those that are caused by external events. The whole is worked up into an effective narrative, in which the personality of Ursula, who turns out to be in the end the des es maohina, stands distinctly out.
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