Dare Macdonald : a Romance of the Riviera. By E.
R. Macnicol. (Alexander Gardner.)—This romance of the Riviera has for its hero Dare Macdonald, a little boy nearly five years old, who is very natural though very precocious for his age, who has very pretty manners, makes apt remarks, has an accident, and shows his cleverness by not dying. These virtues are all in favour of the young hero, and we may add of, evidently, the young writer for though called a romance, the romance is of the simplest type possible, and so far from being unnatural, reads like a literal transcript from hotel life at Nice. Unfortunately, lifelike con- versations, except in rare cases, are not deeply interesting, and the talk of the heroines—one Scotch and the other American—in this book are not the exception, though the young ladies are irreproachable in their behaviour. The American girl has a lover, and marries him in haste when he is ill ; the other finds a lover in the person of a Scotch doctor, but she has to wait two years to satisfy her father that the mild gambling Dr. Gordon has indulged in is not a rooted habit ; after that period, however, they marry and are happy ever after. We said, a transcript from life; but we must except the poor foreigners, whose tongue is hopelessly spelt and written. Here is an example of the author's French :—" Tais toi, imbecile ton fin sera la mishre.—Mieux 1k, que touts ma vie !— AUons done; pas des discussions travaillens ! " This display of ignorance is unpardonable.
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