The Goddess of Stone. By R. W. Wright Henderson. Methuen
and Co. 6s.)—All good adventure stories, whether they be concerned with history or with lands of imagination, belong to one of two schools : either they are dependent for their interest on the thrill of action and on a fine-wrought plot, on deeds of valour and noble heroes, or they glean it rather from background and character and atmosphere. Those, in a storm at sea, stir us by the uncertainty of death or escape ; these, to which class belongs The Goddess of Stone, by the very beating of wind and waves and the rending of the sails. Although the story of smugglers and of refugees from the France of 1792 may seem little suited to the leisurely pace of Mr. Henderson's book, here is pleasant company for those lovers of true adventure who are content to be without bloodcurdling drama, and prefer to find, after long wondering, that the mysterious emigré is just an émigré; and we come to look, through the eyes of a boy, at the events which shook Europe, and, with a boy's mind, to rate them of equal value with the trivial occurrences of everyday life. Moreover, the book is admirably written, with a breadth and control of style rarely found in fiction of this sort, and a care for detail which shows Mr. Henderson to be a follower in the train of true romance.
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