The Subtle Thing that's Spirit. By Geraldine Hodgson. (A. Treherne
and Co. Gs.)—It is impossible to congratulate Miss Hodgson on the title of her novel. It is indeed extraordinarily clumsy when used out of its context and on a title-page. However, though the name of a novel has a certain importance. the book itself has much more, and the story is good. Miss Hodgson has had the courage to reward. her disagreeable characters, and deal out misfortune to those in whom the reader takes most interest. The picture of Whitmore, the manufacturing town in which the scene is laid, is well done, and the whole novel is written convincingly. It is not a very remarkable story (except for the delightful ease with which the long-lost heir establishes his claim), but it is pleasant reading. One cannot help wishing, however, that the character of Mat (the heir aforesaid) were drawn in greater detail. It is well conceived, but it is impossible not to feel that the author intended to elaborate it further, and, as a whole, Mat ends by being a little dim. The novel is readable, but not remarkable.
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