The Eglantore Portraits. By Mary E. Mann. (Methuen and Co.
6s.)—There is no theme that calls for greater discretion in the handling than the first year of married life. Mrs. Mann has humour as well as sympathy, and prospective readers of The Eglamore Portraits may be at once reassured on one point. It is not calf-love but amantium irae that form the staple of this lively tragi-comedy, the r6le of domestic disturber being assigned to a peculiarly odious mother-in-law of the Old Campaigner type. Here, however, Mrs. Mann's natural kindliness has led to her artistic undoing, for we cannot but regard as a mistake her some- what belated effort to excite compassion for Mrs. Cummin. Campaigners of that sort are undefeated. They may die, but, like the Old Guard, they never yield. With this reservation, we can cordially recommend Mrs. Mann's story of the strange adventures of two family portraits.
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