Love's Young Dream: a Novel. 8 vols. By F. E.
M. Notley. (Tinsley Brothers.)—The title-pages and backs of these volumes give the name as we have written it,—they have, however, another," Love has eyes," on every page. But as neither title has anything to do with the story, the eccentricity is perhaps not worth noting. Love has indeed little to do with this silly and unnatural novel; it seemed at first an amusing inno- vation to find a tale in which nearly all the characters should be equally repulsive and should all so cordially hate each other, but the potency of the charm evaporates when spread over several hundred pages. The narrative, such as it is, is autobiographical, and is written generally in the present tonse,—thus, " Clang goes the great boll at the door, and I see a shadow creep whitely over her face. She pinches her lip with her teeth." The lady with this abnormal shadow, Mrs. Mawditt, and her villainous second husband, are the nearest relatives of the heroine, and the endless wranglings and quarrels of this dismal trio and their friends and belongings are given at prodigious length through these volumes To the middle of Vol. II. there seems some faint chance that the heroine, Covello, may break her neck in a steeplechase, but contrary to the hopes and expectations of a "numerous circle " of friends and neighbours, only a sprained ankle comes of it. " The sun is in his eyes and mine, there is a glitter as of a million diamonds in the air, the leafless fence we are 'nearing is gloaming with a sheen of gold which mocks and dazzles. Ito lifts his horse at its false glory, flies over, disappears, and does not rise again," &o. In giving the reference to this astounding steeplechase, we feel we aro putting our sporting readers under no small obligation,—it is by far the " wildest thing " wo ever read of. But we are bound to advise them to skip the most of the story, and other people will do well to avoid it altogether.
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