21 DECEMBER 1901, Page 25

My Island. By Eilian Hughes. With Illustrations by Lady Stanley.

(J. M. Dent and Co. 2s 6d.)—My Island has for one lecommenda.tion the merit of being quite unlike other books. It has also some singularly charming drawings of children by Lady Stanley. And some of Miss Hughes's studies of character and circumstance among Welsh peasants are exquisite in thought and style. Best of all is the story of "The Silver Teapot." in which the tragedy of a mother's love for a dead son, the cupidity of a half-witted lout, and the instinctive kindness of the same incomplete creature work together to produce a really beautiful little drama of rustic life. Very good also is "Jane Hannah," and the two children who figure in "The Lost " are excellent. An injustice was done to this little book when it was decided to give the title-chapter the first place, and " The Tale of the Trothwy " the second. These are the least attractive papers in the volume, and we counsel our readers to skip them at their first reading.