4 SEPTEMBER 1909, Page 24

John Goodehad. By R. W. Wright-Henderson. (John Murray. 6s.) —This

is a novel of the "thirties" and "forties" of the nineteenth century, and concerns itself, not with the great political events of that era, but with the quiet and rather humdrum life of a country squire and his sons. It must be confessed that the squire does his best by means of a most irascible temper to prevent the life from being humdrum. He constantly quarrels with both his sons, and the younger one goes off at length, like the younger son in the fairy- tale, to seek his fortune in London. The novel, which is very long, is well written, and readers who do not ask for very thrilling adventures or subtle delineations of character will find some very able and painstaking work in its pages.