Of the Line. By Lady Charles Thynne. (Hurst and Blackett.)—A
very neatly written, well devised story, without any trace in it of original power. The characters are all natural, the incidents such as might occur in any household, yet with a certain dramatic arrange- ment, and the writing is singularly free alike from affectation and in- elegance. But when all is read, and it is very easily read, nothing remains upon the mind. There is nothing to interest, nothing to remember, nothing to watch except the central character, Sybil Morley, who is not much worth watching, a perverse girl, who does perverse things until she compromises herself, but whose perversity is rather described than explained. The rest of the characters are lay figures, who play their parts very much like amateurs in a charade. One can guess what they are intended to represent, but it is not represented. The total absence of any straining after effect gives Of the Line a certain pleasantness to the critical reader, but that sense of relief is the chief pleasure he will obtain from its perusal.
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