PEARL AND PLAIN. By E. A. Griffin. (Longmans. 7s. 6d.)—Lady
Morland is the mother of four daughters. Having successfully married three of them, she is determined' to make a specially good " catch " for Pearl. the youngest and most beautiful ; and Lionel, Marquess of Comberton, iR selected as the only adequate suitor. Lionel, however, instead of falling in love with Pearl, loses his heart to Christina Erskine, poor cousin and private secretary to Sir Herbert Morland. Such is the familiar motif which Miss Griffin has chosen for her first novel. But she has endowed it with a wealth of good characterization and quiet charm. Lady Morland herself, worldly, scheming, and somewhat unprin- cipled ; her husband, good-natured, but overridden by her dominant will ; Jasper Lumley, the wealthy Hove bachelor with his collection of Chinese porcelain ; Cornelia, Sir Herbert's charming sister ; and the two girls, Pearl and Christina : these and other figures are drawn to the life. The plot, if Ample in outline, is ingeniously worked out in detail, and our only quarrel with the author is that she allows- a needless 'undercurrent of mystery and sensation to ruffle at intervals the otherwise natural and pleasant flow of her story.
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