The Fruits of the Morrow. Py Agnes Jacomb. (Methuen and
Co. 6e.)—When we rend in the publishers' note that "The Fruits the Morrow is a_novel shelving the consequences of a man's and a woman's conduct in the past and how it affects the lives of their two_sons," we suspected that here was material for the Censor to consider. But not the most severe of us could take exception to Miss Jacomb's stray, which is concerned with the objective difficulties and mental turmoil attendant on the career of an illegitimate son. This is an ambitious subject, and the writer has dealt fairly and capably with its situations, bringing out with Wdmirable subtlety the difference iu views and opinions of the two generations, and avoiding the necessity for a conventional hero by giving almost equal weight to seven characters. The plot lays itself open to the charge of being involved; indeed, our one complaint is that the recognition of Kit's position and parentage is unduly slew and detracts from the psycho- logical, which should be the chief, interest of the hook. Miss Jacomb wanders here. and there from serious comedy into melodrama, and assumes, on-the part of her puppets, unusual denseness of intellect; but the anticlimax of the attempted murder is delightful, and proves her to have, underlying all her seriousness, a genuine sense of humour. We would remind her, in passing, thatthe expression "Why the Dickens " does not, as a rule, indulge in a capital "D."
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