17 NOVEMBER 1888, Page 42

Out in the '45. By Emily S. Holt. (John F.

Shaw and Co.)— There are few authors who depict with such care and faithfulness as Miss Holt the social life of the period about which they may happen to be writing. This is particularly the case with the story before us. It is a picture of life and society about the middle of the eighteenth century,—and a very interesting picture, too. The heroine and her three sisters are the daughters of a North-Country squire who has very decided Jacobite leanings. The narrative, however, deals not so much with public troubles as with those of a domestic kind. It is with the home-life of the four girls and other members of their family that we are chiefly concerned. Occasionally we are brought into the region of peril and danger, as in the escape of Angus Drummond from prison ; but for the most part the story leads us through less exciting paths. Nor is it the less interesting for this. No one can fail to find pleasure in the quaint picturesque tale which Miss Holt sets forth. Some of the characters are very entertaining. Perhaps the Squire's maiden sister, "Aunt Kezia," will afford the reader most amusement. Her stern sense of duty, and the uncompro- mising frankness with which she expresses her opinion to all alike, give rise to some rather humorous scenes.