14 MAY 1977, page 21

A Light Touch

Richard Shone Miss Ethel Sands and Her Circle Wendy Baron (Peter Owen £8.50) It was often supposed that Henry James took certain characteristics from the young Ethel Sands when......

Hobbit Forming

Nick Totton J. R. R. Tolkien: a Biography Humphrey Carpenter (Allen and Unwin £4.95) 'And after this, you might say, nothing else really happened.' With this disarmingly honest......