Against the drain. By Catherine E. Mallandaine. (S.P.C.K. 85. 6d.)—Miss
Mallandaine has chosen as her theme the experiences of a girl, brought up away from home, who returns to find that
socially and financially things are very different from What si.e expected. We cannot say that we think Miss Mallandaine has been very successful in her treatment of the situation; her heroine, Hilda, does not gain the sympathy of the reader, and she is guilty of more than a little snobbishness. The writer seeks to improve her through troubles ; these have in the end the desired effect, and we take leave of her—may we say without much regret ?—as a most exemplary character.—This "trial by fire" is also resorted to in A Plucky Girl, by May Baldwin (W. and R. Chambers, Sc. 6d.) Indeed, the accumulation of ills that befall Nell Lestrange would overwhelm any one not possessed of the above inestimable quality. We must protest, however, against the manner in which Miss Baldwin brings about her heroine's crowning misfortune,—the rupture of her engagement. This is caused by a remark in such extraordinary bad taste that we cannot think that any one possessing the instincts of a gentleman would have made it in the existing, or any other, circum- stances. The book is pleasantly and brightly written, and in the end all goes well with the heroine, who is really an attractive person.
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