23 JANUARY 1909, Page 25

The Sweet o' the Year : Thoughts from a Village

Garden. By Emily Ridgway. (J. E. Cornish, Manchester. 3s. tld. net.)—The title might seem to mean that season which is called the "sweet o' the year,"—late spring and early summer ; but Miss Ridgway loyally perseveres in finding the " sweet " in all seasons. She writes appreciatively of " Sunrise on a November Morning" as well as of " A. Day of Roses," which she goes on to describe as a " sun- bailed day in June." These little sketches from Nature are varied with studies from human life, as "The Beloved Physician," a title which sufficiently tells its story, and "Cripple Jonathan,' a pathetic tale of a life's promise marred by an accident, a child of great promise " deformed physically and mentally " for life.