5 DECEMBER 1896, Page 14

An Odd Career. By G. Beresford Fitzgerald. (Digby, Long, and

Co.)-There seems to us an opportunity lost in An Odd Career. Though the author is not much at home in his first chapters, his style improves afterwards, loses its redundancy, and becomes readable. The plot promises well, and events seem to lead up to some drama; but the conclusion of the story is rather weak, and the plot never develops into anything possessing interest. We have been unable to ascertain to whose career the epithet "odd" applies. When one thinks of the extraordinary careers some men have had, the conviction is brought home very strongly that Mr. Fitzgerald has wasted a good title.