20 DECEMBER 1890, Page 26

Rosalba : a Story of the Apennines. By F. G.

Wallace-Good- body. (Allen and Co.)—This is a strange book. The story is confused and rather tedious, and it seems now and then to con- found the social condition of Italy present with that of Italy past. The people are not particularly agreeable, although some of the characters are very well drawn, and Rosalba herself is half-insane and not quite intelligible ; yet a good deal of interest attaches to the work, and it especially arouses curiosity as to the mind of the -writer. With whom does he think,—with the Marchese, with Scare- field, or with Father Massimo ? Is he so melancholy a man as he makes each of these in his different way ? The religious discussion, -or perhaps we ought to say, the questioning of religious possibili- ties, is the most interesting feature of the book, and not at all out of place.