28 MAY 1887, Page 22

The Sweet o' the Year. By H. T. Wilmota eaten,

M.A. (Skeffington.) —This is a story of the common kind, told with something more than an average amount of ability. The characters will be familiar to readers of fiction,—the vulgar self 'made man, the speculating squire, the worthy son who will not marry for money, and the villainous cousin who cherishes an undying grudge for the detection of his youthful offences. But the well-worn materials are worked op with a certain freshness, and the tale moves pleasantly along. As a whole, it is not in a close relation to life ; the particular incident of the abduction of Dora Thornton seems to us exceedingly improbable.