19 DECEMBER 1891, Page 24

The Young Governess. By the Author of " Gerty and

May." (Griffith, Ferran, and Co.)—There are not a few carelessnesses in this "tale for girls." The "young governess" turns out to have "thirty years' experience of life." Thirty is certainly far from old age, but the epithet " young " in this particular conjunc- tion seems to suggest something less mature. Why does the labourer Jacob address his mother as " Katie " (p. 90) ? And how does the clergyman's daughter, Gertie Leyton, become Gerty Mynors on p. 223 ? We cannot think that even so silly a woman as Lady Clere (how she comes to be "Lady Clere," we do not

know—her husband is Colonel Clere) could have talked to a daughter of fifteen about her chances of marrying Sir Oswald.