26 JUNE 1897, Page 11

Sweet Lilac. By Marie Louise Eveson. (Roxburghe Press.)— This tale

is, we are given to understand, Miss Eveson's first venture in fiction. It is told in a leisurely, lengthy fashion which is scarcely suited to the time. The style is cumbrous and in- volved. There are signs, now and again, of something like literary quality, but on the whole Sweet Lilac scarcely gives promise enough to warrant a second effort, Yet, if we may venture on a piece of what may seem impertinent advice, if Miss Eveson can find a publisher who will take another effort at his own risk, we shall be glad to find our discouraging prophecy falsified.