The inconveniences and disagreeables of what Mr. Walter Bagehot called
" the horrid scrape of being born a woman " have never been more wittily pointed out than by Mrs.. Dowdall in her light essays on the subject of that impersonator of all housewives, Martha. The book, however, will be exceedingly useful as a handbook to all women on the art of " how not to do it." Anyone who conducted her life in the manner depicted would surely welcome death at the earliest possible moment. Whether the compilation of such a handbook is a legitimate object of satire may be doubted, but the object of this particular book is probably merely to amuse. This Mrs. Dowdall contrives most excellently to do. She is both witty and humorous, not least in the titles of her essays—" Any Wife to Any Cook," " The Ego on the Hearth," The Elusive Germ." Such names are irresistible to the reader, and Mrs. Dowdall's light touch will not dis- appoint him in any of the papers named.
Previous page
