Round Anvil Rock. By Nancy Houston Banks. (Macmillan and Co.
6s.)—Mrs. Banks has not much of a story to tell, and she tells it in a very leisurely way. There is a certain Miss Penelope in the family to which we are introduced; one of her functions is to make the coffee, and it would be interesting to know, had one leisure to make the calculation, how many pages are devoted to her performance of this duty. "Anvil Rock" is a remarkable object in Kentucky, and the time of the story is early in the nineteenth century. The principal incident in the tale is the ousting of the very objectionable William Pressley from the affections of Ruth, the heroine, in favour of the very admirable doctor. But there are some striking figures. Peter Cartwright, the Revivalist, and Andrew Jackson are historical ; Father Orin, the Roman Catholic priest, is, we suppose, imaginary. As for Philip Alston, we must own that he remains something of an enigma to us, a Jack Sheppard who practises a fair proportion of the cardinal virtues.
Previous page
