25 JANUARY 1879, Page 22

Miscalculation : a Tale. By Harriette Bowra. (Nisbet and Co.)—

In this story, which takes up the familiar episode of a young, inexperi- enced girl suddenly thrown upon her own resources, we are glad to find that the "miscalculation" is not made by the heroine herself, for a young girl who calculates at all, except when dutifully doing her sums, must be very objectionable. Here the miscalculation is made by a too clever lady, who, trying to serve God and Mammon, finds herself altogether put out by right feeling in her own children and in others around her. We feel heartily glad that it is so, but how it comes to pass, and how, after the manner of such tales, the heroine is rewarded in this world for unselfish conduct, readers had better find out for themselves. Though not very striking or original, it is better than many more pretentious books ; and we hope it is only the printer, and not the author, who puts a "k" into the "sculls" of a boat, and writes "conventual," instead of "conventional."