25 JULY 1925, Page 47

The Splendid Lover. By Philippa Preston. (Fisher Unwin. 7s. 6d.

net.)—The Mexican brigand Zapata is surely a lineal descendant of Captain Macheath, and the reader will reproach the heroine in the words of Mrs. Peachum : " Could you not have found a better man to enter the family than a highwayman ? " Perhaps before Miss Preston writes her second novel she will reflect that, though these gentlemen of the road are splendid figures, they are as unlikely to settle down in matrimony as Mr. Gay's great exemplar.