The Squireen. By Shan F. Bullock. (Methuen and Co. 6s.)
—This is a genuine Irish story ; but it is the seamy side of Irish life that it portrays for us. There is a custom in Ireland, which is often depicted in native fiction, for marriages to be made after some very close and shrewd bargaining. The people have got beyond the barbarism of buying a wife; it is the amount of the dowry that is so keenly discussed. " 'Here's my last word : make it guineas an' I take the heifer.' `Pounds ! ' answered Fallon. Guineas ! ' shouted Hynes, rising from his chair. It's my last word : guineas or nothin'.'" (It made a difference of £6 10s.) Unluckily the " heifer," Jane Fallon by name, overheard. The Squireen is a powerful study of life and character, but the life is squalid and the characters are ignoble. Mr. Bullock forfeits not a little of his chance of the popularity he might otherwise achieve by his uncompromising adherence to unattractive themes.
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