5 JUNE 1897, Page 27

Life in Arcadia. By J. S. Fletcher. (John Lane.)—These sketches

of rural life are graphic and pleasing. Mr. Fletcher has judiciously put his " Tragedy " together so that we can take as much or as little of it as our liking suggests. As to the faithful- ness of the sketehes there is little room for criticism. Still, we venture to ask whether women still milk the cows in the " Arcadia" which Mr. Fletcher knows. Of course they do in small holdings ; but in regular farms, such as that where the scene of " Dorothea Ann " is laid, " Kitty " no longer "carries the milking pail."