28 APRIL 1894, Page 11

should possess themselves of this volume. The treasures of the

Divorce Court, of the hypnotic s6ance, and of the sanatorium for inebriates, are here lavishly drawn upon. Then the lives of all the leading characters in the story—Gladys Gainsford, the self- sacrificing heroine ; Musgrave, the man she ought to have married ; Morton, the drunkard, whom she does marry ; and even Nina McMahon, the wicked adventuress who uses hypnotism as a means to the attainment of her abominable ends—are either hopelessly marred or brought to an untimely end. If Mr.

Maude's ambition was to produce a book which should be wholly repellent, and which should leave only a bitter taste in the mouth, he has unquestionably realised it. Victims is also written with great care, and its author has spared no pains to make it quite fin de siacle. But why should he have introduced into so mercilessly realistic a book, so palpably artificial a name as " General Sir Libellous Gossip "?