24 FEBRUARY 1877, Page 23

Gwynedd. By Frances Geraldine Southern. 2 vols. (Remington and Co.)—This

is a modest little novelette,—without doubt a young authoress's first attempt. If there is not much originality nor much power, there is, at least, refinement and good English ; and the tone of the book is as far from the coarseness of some popular novels as it is from the sensationalism of others, unless, indeed, one murder and a ghost be sensationaL Where family union and affection are touched, there is unaffected but true sentiment, and it is in this vein that we recommend this new miner in literature to drive her future levels. Readers who seek for love-scenes will be amply rewarded, as the heroine and her four brothers, and a few young friends beside, all fall in love, with more or less success.