UNHARBOURED HEATHS By Katharine G6tsch - Trevelyan This is the record of
a solitary trek across Canada, taken three years ago by a girl aged twenty-one. It is compiled from letters and a diary written at the time. Miss Trevelyan, Who has since been married, to a certain extent forestalls criticism by an epilogue in which she says : " I must let things stand, with their imperfections and crudities, for the book is
merely a statement of how things were, and what I thought about them at the time." But those who have been twenty-
one will recollect that their writings of that period are apt to be records, not so much of how they really felt, as of how. they wished to appear, both to themselves and others. This reflection certainly applies to Unharboured Heaths (Selwyn and Blount, 8s. 6d.). The lively sense of adventure which inspired both the journey and the book undoubtedly gives it value. Moreover, it will probably appeal to many as a charming and naive document of youthful enthusiasm. But it would have been a much better book if the writer had after these three years described her emotions as recollected in tranquillity. As it is, the quality of the book varies very much indeed. The writing is frequently pompous and excessively self-conscious ; and though these may be typically youthful qualities, they have only a very sentimental value. Some- times, however, the narrative is genuinely free and un- affected ; and once at least, in the description of the climbing of Mount Edith Cavell, it becomes really good. The story of this adventure possesses a unity and an integrity which leave the reader respectful and impressed.
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