21 SEPTEMBER 1907, Page 21

fferridge of Reality Swamp. By William Hay. (T. Fisher Unwin.

6s.)—A story of convict life in " Mantilla" in the old days of transportation. It contains several extremely exciting episodes, and is well and picturesquely written, although the style is occasionally a little involved. The figure of the hero, however, is not as lifelike as the author intends it to be, and there is exaggeration iu the portrait of the adventuress of the book, Lady Eardly, alias the convict "Bess." The whole novel gives a horrible picture of convict life and of the position of the "assigned" convicts ; but it is good reading, and will be appreciated by people who like a story which moves briskly forward from one excitement to another.