Only a Sister. By Walter Adam Wallace. (Roper and Drowley.)
—Since the author of " The Heroine," a forgotten but delight-
fully clever skit upon the equally forgotten "Rosa Matilda" school of romance-writers, invented the name of " Whilome Eftsoons " for his faithful steward, we do not think the patient reader has been asked to sympathise with a hero called by such a name as Daccarp Aikone. It simply sounds impossible; the man to whom it attaches is hardly less, the circumstances that make up
the story are almost more so. Yet Only a Sister is not without
merit, and the author manifests originality of mind and bold- ness of conviction. He is remarkably deficient in the know- ledge of society, of its hierarchy, and its customs; these, as they exist at present, would render the combinations of his plot im- practicable. He is, besides, quite destitute of humour, and the would-be funny portions of the story are intolerable. He will, however, do better work when he learns to avoid his own idea of a joke, a Duke, and a Russian adventuress.
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