READABLE NOVELS
The Golden Scarecrow, by Mr. Hugh Walpole (Cassell, 7s. 6d.), is a new edition of an old favourite which must be mentioned simply because it is such a glorious children's book. Mr. Walpole takes his readers into the secret daydream lives of a few real and very individual children, and we read it with the delicious and exciting feeling that we are walking in a well-loved but high-walled and padlocked garden, where grow the flowers of youth and where adults only walk on ,uffrance. * s Saviours of Society. By Stephen McKenna.
(Butterworth. 7s. 6d. net.) There are, no doubt, readers who will be delighted to hear that Saviours of Society is the first hook of Mr. McKenna's new trilogy, The Realists, of which the preface gives us to understand politics will be the chief issue. As a matter of fact, Mr. McKenna is so obsessed with ;ex problems that he fails to produce the dry, crisp atmo- sphere which is necessary if politics in fiction are not to become tedious. The super-man, who in accordance with the fashion A to-day, is a Napoleonic newspaper magnate, is not a particularly interesting figure, and his Empire tour in its development does not prove to be as important as is suggested
in the first few pages. * The Emergence of Marie. By A. J. Dawson. (Williams and Norgate. 7s. 6d. net). "The real secret of success," says the author, "is to be born with the temperament and outlook of the Great Heart of the Man in the Street ; and, especially, of course, of his wife and daughter." The story aptly illustrates this thesis. It is not as amusing as Mr. Arnold I3ennett's early book on the same theme, but to people who do not 'remember A Great Man, this volume will prove sufficiently entertaining. * * * What Really Happened. By Mrs. Belloc Lowndes. (Hutchinson. 75. 6d. net.) A murder story developed on a new and ingenious plan, beginning with the trial and then going back to the real story of the crime, The result is extremely interesting.
* * The Great Valley. By Mary Johnston. (Thornton Butterworth. 7s. 6d. net.) This is essentially a leisurely book Shout Scottish settlers in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. The capture of the heroine by Indians, which comes near the end of the book, gives some exciting chapters with a happy ending. * S. Mareeya. By E. Tait-Reid. (Hefter and Sons. Os. net.) A women's college at Cambridge with
a Russian student. Scenes of University life are good. * * The Naiad and the Faun. By Eric Shepherd. (Selwyn and Blount. 7s. 6d. net.) Two very young people on an island : a good book for a summer afternoon in a hammock. • * * The Rossetti and o;her Tales. By B. Temple Thurston. (Cassell. 7s. 6d. net.) Short stories which will doubtless be alTreciated by admirers of Mr. Thurston.
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