SORROWSTONES. By W. II. Calvert. (Putnams. 7s. 6d.).—When Mr. Calvert
published The Secret of the Wild, in which a naturalist's impressions of the Lake District were charmingly combined with an autobiographical and human interest, it was obvious that he had the makings of a novelist. Sorrawatones amply fulfils that promise. The title refers to a lonely Cumberland farm, and the plot, turning upon the love of the farmer's daughter for the doctor's son, is, in outline, simple enough. But the many characters are spontaneous and vital creations, while the background of fell, valley, and lake is drawn by a master hand. Mr. Calvert — in whom Cumberland promises to find its Hardy—ranges from the idyllic to the grim, and from tragedy to the indigenous humour of his chosen countryside, with the inevitability of life itself. Avoiding the pitfalls alike of sentimentality and of violence,. Sorrowstones is a beautiful, tender, and powerful book—the work of a writer who is both a born story-teller and a sensitive artist.
Previous page
