The Story of Susan. By Mrs. H. E. Dudeney. (W.
Heinemann. 6s.)—The " Story of Susan" takes place about sixty years ago, and a very charming story it is. The figure of the hero, Martin Heritage, a flourishing Nonconformist country silversmith, is specially well drawn, and no reader will be able to help sym- pathising with him in the trials he undergoes at the hands of Susan, the wayward maiden with whom he is in love. Susan is, however, well punished for her misdeeds, and contracts a most unhappy marriage. In the end the first husband dies, and Martin is at last made happy. The plot of the story is not remarkable, but the writing is charming, and Mrs. Dudeney has contrived most pleasantly to recreate the atmosphere of the days when the young Queen Victoria first ascended the throne.
Over the Border. By Robert Barr. (Isbister and Co. 6s.)— The first pages of Over the Border tell the reader that he is back in the days of the Great Rebellion. Mr. Barr is not very sym- pathetic to Cromwell, who in his frequent appearances in these pages is represented as unscrupulous and cunning. But although his sympathies are more or less on the Royalist side, Mr. Barr is really more concerned with adventures than with politics, and of these there is no stint. The book is picturesque and the language is well managed. It is not so archaic as to be affected, but neither is it so modern as to jar on readers whose thoughts are in the England of the Civil War.
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