The Ladder to the Stars. By Jane Helen Findlater. (Methuen
and Co. 6s.)—A novel from Miss Findlater is always welcome alike to reviewer and reader. Her present book is an interesting study of a literary genius brought up in a quiet country village till the age of twenty-five, the genius in question being a woman, and the heroine of the book. The story, of course, is open to the criticism common to all stories which turn on the literary ability of their characters, that the author can give no proof of this ability, and that the reader has to take it on trust. Perhaps the only modern instance in which this proof is given—Mr. Bernard Shaw's example of the works of Mr. John Tanner—is not such as to make readers wish to encourage the creators of fictitious characters in giving samples of their exploits. In the present story the scope and character of Miriam's work are left a little vague, and in consequence the story suffers in actuality. But the picture of Miriam's longing for escape from the dull world which surrounds her, and of her gradual emancipation, is admirably drawn, and the book is thoroughly pleasing. The episode of Herman, the violin player, is not quite credible, and fail to convince the reader that Miriam could have been so greatly attracted by him while she was all the time, at the back of her mind, very much in love with Alan Gore. In fact, Miriam's brain is more interesting than her personality, and whether in this sort of novel this is a defect or a triumph must be left to every separate reader to determine for himself.
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