24 AUGUST 1912, Page 23

READABIal Novzns.—The Oakum Pickers. By L. S. Gibson. (Methuen and

Co. 6s.)—A novel dealing with life in London, chiefly concerned with the very unfortunate love affairs of the two heroines. The men of the story are quite remarkably unattractive.—Love's Cross Roads. By L. T. Meade. (Stanley Paul and Co. 6s.)—A story of everyday life in which the parentage of both hero and heroine is decidedly involved. The book is modelled so closely on the novels of the nineteenth century that the reader will feel the mention of a taxi-cab to be a positive anachronism.