A Heart on Fire. By Mrs. Houstotm. 3 vole. (F.
V. White and Co.)—The author of "A Heart on Fire" (an unusually silly title, by- the-way) claims upon her title-page the authorship of many novels, and apparently, therefore, finds a public. A strange public it must be, satisfied with a poor story, quite without freshness or interest, told in a tedious way. "Tedious," indeed, is scarcely the word. Mrs. Honatoon's style, with its continual parentheses, is almost maddening. Here is a specimen which will fairly indicate what she writes about, and how she writes i—" She felt no inclination to be elsewhere—in the little inner drawing-room for instance, whither the Duchess and Lady Audry had taken refuge—for ever and anon, a festive smile from Harvey told her ebe was not forgotten,
circumstance which almost necessitated her stay—Colonel Dallas, on her showing a disposition to leave her seat, had, under shelter of the table-cover, laid a slightly detaining hand upon her dress." Add to this that one never hears of " women," but of "daughters of Eve," "the softer sex," dc., and it ie difficult to understand where sash a book find readers.
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