Rachel Chalfont. By Sophie Cole. (Duckworth and Co. 6s.) —There
is a class of modern novel which is merely concerned with the portrait of its heroine,—that is to say, the whole book is seen through her eyes. and nothing but her feelings and actions is of the slightest account to the author or to the reader. Though this form of fiction always tends to be rather unsatisfying, Rachel Chalfont is a favourable example of the type, and Rachel herself is an interesting figure. The best thing in the book is the description of Rachel's conduct on the discovery of her father's manuscript novel. How she is tempted to use it as her own, and how the eminent novelist who helps her in her work discovers her fraud from internal evidence, the reader must find out for himself. The end of the story is a little conventional, the timely sweeping away of Rachel's rival in the affections of Stafford Imre), being more frequently encountered in the pages of a novel than in real life. Still, the book is of serious intention, and is carefully written, containing in some passages a good deal of descriptive force.
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