19 JUNE 1909, Page 26

The Infamous John Friend. By Mrs. R. S. Garnett. (Duck-

worth and Co. 6s.)—This is a very able book, even though it cannot be called pleasant reading. Mrs. Garnett shows much skill in leaving her readers with a certain sense of sympathy with John Friend in spite of his abominable conduct. The and of the novel is extremely powerful, but the last chapter is really too brutal in its realism. The pictures of life under the Regency at Brighton and elsewhere are very well done, and the combined brilliance and odiousness of the social atmosphere of the time are cleverly indicated. It is, however, impossible to sympathise entirely with any one of the characters. Notwith- standing this, the novel is interesting as a whole, and the great figures which every now and then pass across the stage are adequately sketched.