The Grays. By Charlotte Bacon. (Jonathan Cape. 7s. 6d. net.)—If,
as the title-page seems to indicate, this book is a first novel, it is a very promising piece of work. Its faults are the faults of youth—for the author takes life with almost pompous seriousness. Also, she seems to have extremely little sense of humour. On the other hand, her character drawing is very clearly defined, though it may be said that she makes the principal character, Hewan Gray, unnecessarily disagree- able at the end of the book. It does not seem likely that even under the influence of a very unpleasant friend he would have developed only the bad side of his nature. It is, moreover, also unbelievable that he would tell his fiancée on the eve of their wedding : " Pm afraid I'm one of the unsatisfactory people for whom the thing attained loses its value. . . . I had to tell you . . . ; you must know everything." This is said after great opposition to the engagement has been over- borne by the young people's deep love for each other. The author gives us a detailed analysis of all the characters of the drama. The book is long and carefully planned, and the actual writing has had more attention bestowed upon it than is usual with the hasty productions of the day.
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