Entanglements. By the authoress of "Mr. Arle," &c. Two vols.
(Smith, Elder, and Co.)—It is, we fear, somewhat doubtful how far the authoress of "Mr. Arle" can fairly be congratulated on the appearance of her latest noveL The story is certainly not a very natural or pro- bable one, nor does it appear to us to be interesting to at all a noticeable degree. The heroine, who goes by the remarkable name of Esterel- a name which one of the characters in the book declares to be "enough to drive a fellow madly in love,"—is a very singular young lady indeed. She is exquisitely fair and lovely ; she has eyes which "seemed over-charged with meaning, and burning with unchild-like fire ;" and, when abruptly asked what she is thinking about, replies quietly that she is only thinking of the ghosts, and remarks that she should like to die. There is a sort of duplicate heroine, one Marian Fay, a gamekeeper's daughter, whom Esterel makes a pet of, and kindly instructs in the Spanish language. This young person possesses considerable advantages, natural as well as acquired. Per- sonally she is like a primrose, and her voice is "always something like
the cooing of a wood-pigeon ;" she is specially distinguished by an "at- oneness with herself," which, "making her, as it were, draw her breath serenely, gave her a simple grace and unconscious dignity ;" and, when she sees her patroness dressed for a ball, she enthusiastically observes, "the dress is like moonlight, the white silk shines through the white lace like the moon through white clouds." Both these charming creatures are in love with the same literary gentleman, who, however prefers Marian ; and Esterel resorts to a variety of unjustifiable pro- ceedings to get rid of her rivaL Success at first attends her efforts and, after every one has got into a very sufficient state of "entangle- ment," the knot is cut by Esterel going mad, and Marian finally wins a very waiting race. Those of our readers who feel that they would enjoy hearing this story told at length in language which, though occasionally high-flown, is, on the whole, by no means bad, cannot do better than send for "Entanglements" from the nearest library.
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