Fuel of Fire. By Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler. (Hodder and Stoughton.
6s.)—If we say that this novel is a little "thinner" in quality than some of Miss Fowler's former work, it must not be imagined that the book is " thin " judged by an ordinary and everyday standard. But Miss Fowler has set a measure for herself, and to tell the truth, Fuel of Fire does not quite attain the top of it. A touch of melodrama is given to the story by the prologue, and Miss Fowler's brilliant characters are perhaps a little out of focus in this setting. The best-drawn character in the book is Lady Alicia, the mother of the hero, whose pretentious foolishness is as amusing to the reader as it must have been irritating to her family. The author keeps up her reputation as a maker of epigram in this story, and actually has the cruelty to apply the following piece of caustic analysis to her own hero :—" He was already unconsciously acquiring the manner peculiar to those men who are blessed with brilliant wives; he led up to her best stories, played up to her smartest repartees, and— when she was in full swing—his lips moved slightly as do the lips of prompters in amateur theatricals." It will be seen from this that Miss Fowler's hand has by no means lost its cunning.
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