The Story of Fifine. By Bernard Capes. (Constable and Co.
6s.)—If we are to judge Mr. Capes's work fairly, we must admit that he has many points in hie favour. His style is ingenious and vivid, and be is able to create whatever atmosphere he may wish, and to give us the full sense of the freedom of a vagabond's life in France. Moreover, he is a man of many interests, and decorates his story, as it were, with discussions on Post-Impressionism and Provençal poetry which may be irrelevant, but are certainly charming. Only so shall
we be at liberty to dislike The Story of Fifine, because of its lack of any moral standard whatever. Felix and Fifine live together as brother and sister. When this arrangement becomes irksome, they live as a man and his mistress, and there is no suggestion that the adoption of such a relationship is in any way contrary to the highest principles of discipline and honour. "For the first time in our lives, perhaps," says Felix, "we were in near concord with the Christiau concept of Grace." We are throughout made to feel that in this world, which is a haphazard assortment of creatures, with no destiny and no controlling power, the only tenable theories are those which involve the least amount of sorrow or of difficulty ; and, without wishing to appear prudish, we cannot think that this is a wholesome attitude to be taken up by a deservedly popular novelist.
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