16 JANUARY 1932, Page 26

THE FIRST LADY BRENDON. By Robert Hichens. (Cassell. 7s. 6d.)—Mr.

Hichens' facile pen moves with the times_ He clings to the problem novel, but the problem is no longer moral, but scientific. Can the bad Lord Brendon, in defiance of the laws of heredity, transmit his personality to Lady Brendon's son by the good Dr. Cleeve ?