A Heart of Flame. By C. F. Embree. (Methuen and
Co. 6s.) —This is a strange story, written in strange English,—as, e.g., smiling with "sinuousness of lip." In fact, it has now and then the look of a translation. The tale itself is dominated by an almost volcanic energy of destruction. The Bishop is murdered ; so is one of his priests ; the other is killed by the prison guard. The murderer perishes ; so does his wife ; so does the mysterious Nathilde ; the battle at the barricade in the mountains, described, we should say, with much spirit, clears off more people than we have been able to count. The two lovers who ride over the hills in the last chapter are almost the only survivors among the drainatis personae. Let us be thankful, in view of the present canons of fiction, that these are spared. "Jimpse" also lives. He is a comic Yankee intended to relieve the tragedy of the situation, but hardly a success.
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