" COMRADE JILL "
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In your notice of my book Comrade Jill you say " In the first chapters the scene is apparently set for a revolutionary outbreak . . . then the author seems to tire of the whole theme." Is this quite fair ? An author must, of course,• accept in silence the praise or .blame of the critic, but must lie submit to a misstatement of fact ? The revolutionary outbreak (or a general strike carried to extreme lengths) is the theme of the entire story, and it is not until the last chapter that it is " called off." It is my honest belief that such a strike will again be attempted: I also think there will be a great religious revival in the early future. The warring of these two propositions forms the background of my story. My ideas may be wrong, but I am surely entitled to protest against the suggestions that I' tire of a theme that I regard [Our reviewer writes : " I merely recorded the impression made on me by the story and a reviewer can do no more. The author seemed to me to transfer his interest from the revolution to the kidnapping of Jill and her escape from an asylum."—En. Spectator.]
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