20 FEBRUARY 1915, Page 23

READABLE NOVELS.—The Carnival of Florence. By Marjorie Bowen. (Methuen and

Co. Gs.)—A story of the Florence of Savonarola and Piero dei Medici. As usual in Miss Bowen's work, the love interest is independent of history, and the colouring is throughout brilliant..—Love in a Palace. By F. E. Penny. (Chatto and Windt's. 66.)—Mrs. Penny contrasts the English and Mohammedan views on marriage with careful restraint, but the subject is neither simple nor pleasant.