A Woman and her Talent. By Louise Jordan Miln. (W.
Black.. wood and Sons. 6s.)—There have been signs for some time past that a reaction was on its way from the "forward" movement of women to the old-fashioned theory that it is the mission of women to be merely wives and mothers. Tho column dedicated to reviews of fiction is clearly not the place in which this thorny subject can be discussed, and tho reaction is merely mentioned hero as being the motive of Mrs. Louise Jordan Miln's novel, A Woman and her Talent. The style of the book is in the beginning rather stiff, and tho reader is inclined to wish for a little more elasticity ; but later on ho will regret the restraint of the earlier chapters, for the writing becomes almost hysterical. Any one who reads the account of tho heroine's first writibg for the Press will agree that the adjective is not undeserved. The book is divided into two sections, in the first of which tho heroine's husband is a virtuon13, though rather priggish, schoolmaster, while in the second ho becomes the most brutal of profligates. The only reason for his degenera- tion is that his wife takes to writing, and he himself gives up his profession and acts as her literary agent. The reader will find some difficulty in believing in this astound- ing change, and will have an uncomfortable feeling that tho unfortunate man is sacrificed to the author's theories on the employment of women. The husband having completely altered, Mrs. Miln then kills her heroine's three children ; but in the end she relents, and provides the poor woman with a gallant soldier for a second husband. It may be remarked in passing that this gentleman's notion of courtship is truly amazing, and that the author is understating tho case when she describes his wooing as having been almost brutal. Tho book has the interest which attaches to any work about which the author is in deadly earnest, but as a story it is badly constructed, and in the main exhibits the defects rather than tho merits of a "novel with a purpose."
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