Brownjohn's. By Mabel Dearmer. (Smith, Elder, and Co. 6s.) —It
is very seldom that the reviewer is fortunate enough to be obliged, as a duty, to read so admirable a little comedy as the novel to which Mrs. Dearmer gives the not too euphonious title of Brownjohn's. The book tells how two grown-up girls and two abominably naughty little boys go to spend a summer holiday at country lodgings under the chaperonage of a German Frauleia. Needless to say (as otherwise there would have been no story), the Friiutein's relations are taken ill, and she has to leave her charges entirely unchaperoned. With what ingenuity Mrs. Dearmer causes the naughtiness of the little boys to resurc in the appearance of the necessary young man we will leave the readers of the novel to discover. It is enough to say that the book is admirable in tone, for this sort of story, if not sketched with a very light hand, would inevitably degenerate into a most conventional, semi-vulgar, semi-senti- mental adventure. Mrs. Dearmer not only touches, but sustains, exactly the right note, and her little boys (with whom the author does not seem very greatly in sympathy) are as entertaining as they are mischievous. There is a charming scene in a hopfield which will dwell in the mind of the reader as an idyllic picture of country life, and the characters are quite sufficiently individual and lifelike to provide the book with plenty of interest. The word " interest," of course, is not used as indicating serious interest or real emotion. The book is frankly a comedy of manners, and in a comedy of manners the emotions are, and should be, slightly artificial. Too great a poignancy would put the whole theme out of tune, and so spoil what is now a most admirable and artistic achievement.
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