BEAUTY ON EARTH. By C. F. Ramuz. (Putnam. 7s. 6d.)—"
Does one ever quite know what to do with Beauty when found among men ? This question, casually occurring half-way through the book, represents the theme of the latest novel by this famous French author. M. Ramuz exhibits striking individuality. His style, with its athletic sparenes$, achieves at once a remarkable realism and a lyrical beauty, but is difficult to analyse, let alone to describe. Its secret is the writer's own, but it is certainly very effective for the purpose to which it is here turned. Nobody knows what to do with the nineteen-year-old Julienne Milliquet—type of all " beauty on earth "—when, having lost her father in Spanish America, she comes to live with her uncle and his virago of a wife, who keep a village inn near Lake Geneva. Lovely, mysterious, elusivei Julienne is a very disturbing influence. As we watch her widespreading effect upon the village life, the narrative is full of varied action, of piquant situations, of vividly etched characters, and of exquisitely described rural scenes. But, all the time, the spirit of Julienne is made to evade us, as it evades the peasants among whem she creates so much stir. Beauty, M. Ramuz seems to suggest, is like the wind. We see its effects, but we cannot lay hold of itself. Whether read as an allegory or as a straightforward tale, this is a novel of unusual power and charm.
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