The Bottom of the Bread Pan. By Eleanore H. Stooks.
(R.T.S. 3s. 6d.)—Miss Stooks deals with a theme which never fails to interest. A mother and four daughters, left penniless by the death of the head of the house, resolve to earn their living,—the mother, according to a commonly accepted conviction, is a helpless onlooker. The story of their struggle is well told, perhaps with more help from coincidences than quite accords with probabilities. We do not expect or wish to have in such a case such a record as we might have in a tale of the "Mean Streets" kind. That would show us the four women struggling on with but the barest success down to middle age. Our four are all attractive, and two of them are disposed of by the ultima ratio of marriage. A third, who is the prettiest of them all, might follow in their steps if she chose, and the fourth, with her mother, is provided for by an opportune legacy. This is all as it should be—on paper ; and we should not like anything else.
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