Dismiss. By Hilton Brown. (Methuen. 78. 6d. net.)
Though Mr. Hilton Brown is obviously well acquainted with Civil Service conditions in India, he does not know how to write a novel. As a report on the anti-Montagu case, Dismiss has considerable value ; but as a story it is not well constructed and is difficult to read. The book is auto- biographical and covers the whole youth and official career of the principal character, Andrew Allan ; but the author has not the art, which is essential in a novel of limited length which covers a number of years, of selecting the most inter- esting episodes and presenting them in detail. The result is a book containing a superficial account of a great number of events. The character-drawing is poor, and it is, there- fore, difficult to convince the reader of the truth of the pictures presented.
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