Aunt Sally. By Constance Milman. (T. Nelson and Sons. ls.
6c1.) —This is not a child's book, but a very pleasantly written story for elder girls,—indeed, the present writer has enjoyed reading it. The characters of the two little girl cousins are drawn with sympathy and insight, and the little family at the top of the flat in Ranelagh Mansions is very happily described, especially the relationship between the invalid father and his bright little daughter. But why make misunderstanding and death the subjects of stories for the young ? It i bad enough when that is the case in stories for the " grown- ups." In the first chapter a delightful " snowy - white bundle, toddling along on two sturdy white-gaitered legs," falls down a flight of stone garden steps, and is killed ; and the last chapters record the death of the invalid father just when, after years of separation, his wife's father becomes reconciled to her marriage. Surely this was not necessary ; and the reader, instead of laying down the book with a feeling of satisfaction that brighter times are coming to the attractive little family in the top flat, is left with a sense of depression. Happily, the young do not realise the meaning of sorrow and suffering. Miss Milman evidently appreciates the delights of a garden. " Her ladyship's border" is an ideal terrace walk.
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