19 DECEMBER 1885, Page 24

Five Minutes Too Late ; or, Leslie Harcourt's Resolve. By

Emily Brodie. (Shaw and Co.)—This is doubtless intended to be a boy's book; we are sorry that we cannot congratulate the lady author on her success. We are afraid that any boy of fourteen would think scot n of it generally ; and for ourselves, we should decline the responsibility of presenting it even to a younger boy. It is, to a degree calculated to defeat its purpose, fall of direct preaching and religion. The schoolmaster's remark on an ordinary fight, " I never expected to see such a scene as this in my playground," fairly repre- sents the style of the book. Beyond the frontispiece, there is not even an illustration to enliven it.