. THE HOUSE OF HAPPINESS AND OTHER STORIES. By Ethel
M. Dell. (Cassell. 7s. 6d.)—This book contains four tales. Two of them are mere trifles. The other two are abbreviated novels. The title-story introduces us to Anne and Charlotte Sinclair, daughters in a mid-Victorian household. Anne, on the very morning arranged for Charlotte's wedding, elopes with her sister's fiancé. She goes abroad with him, has disillusioning experiences in the desert, overcomes temp- tations, and returns penitently, sixty years afterwards, to a forgiving Charlotte in Bath. The Real Thing " is a study of a strong, silent man, who is too inarticulate to give verbal expression to his love, but proves it by his readiness to efface himself for the true happiness of his wife. Finally, of course, after much suffering and misunderstanding, he is rewarded by her affection. Miss Dell's stories are overcharged with sentimentality, and her writing in places is amazingly slipshod. But she has gifts of fancy and ingenuity that may satisfy uncritical readers.
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