A Child of the Menhir. By Austin Clare. 3 vols.
(Tinsley Brothers.) —This is one of the few novels which we can recommend without re- serve to our readers. The scene is laid in Brittany, the time is the era of the French Revolution. The hero is a foundling, whom the young couple, just bereaved of their eldest child, adopt. The childhood of Christophe, that is the hero's name, as he grows up among his foster- brothers and sisters (one of whom is a young count), is very prettily described. Then comes a period of darkness and trouble. The beggar who first found him claims him as his son, and forces him to become the companion of his wanderings, and even an accomplice in his crimes. The misery of these scenes forms a powerful contrast to the brightness and gaiety of earlier days. Then come various vicissitudes till he returns at last to the home of his childhood. And all along there is the constant conflict in his mind between the claims of religion, as personified in the person of the enthusiastic young priest Bernhz, and the natural emotions of his age. As the story approaches its denouement, it becomes remarkably interesting. The disturbed course of French history at the time is skilfully intermingled with the troubles and perplexities of the characters of the tale. And through- out the whole, the peculiarities of Breton manners and customs are touched with no common skill and picturesque power. A Child of the Menhir is well contrived, well written, and thoroughly wholesome in tone.
Previous page
