1 OCTOBER 1927, Page 27

THE SEVEN LOVERS AND OTHER STORIES. By Muriel Hine. (The

Bodley Head. 7s. 6d.)—Few novelists are successful short story writers and Mis3 Muriel Hilie is no exception to this rule, though undoubtedly she has excellent stories to tell. When space is restricted, she gives us no opportunity of knowing her characters, who are so busy doing exciting things that they have no time to be anything but pegs for plots. In each of the seven tales of her new book she sacrifices characterization to plot. The stories themselves are packed with events and dramatic situations, but they have none of the companionship which is necessary to raise them above the ordinary magazine level.