Souls. By " Rita." (Hutchinson and Co. 6s.) — Some years ago—the
story is common property—a small set of London society were given the name of "souls" by their enemies. This particular set included some of the most intellectual and accomplished men of the time, and a glance at the subsequent careers Of the ablest among them shows that whatever were their faults, they certainly did not avoid careers which entailed their devoting themselves to the most arduous labour. This short preface is necessary when reviewing " Rita's" new novel, Souls, because the "souls" described by her have very little in common with the set known by that name in London society. "Rite's" " souls" are of the butterfly order, and very ill-conducted butter- flies they are. The author has taken the worst scandals and the nastiest rumours of the last few years, and woven them into a most unattractive novel. There are indeed many scandals in society, but there are also many people doing a vast quantity of work and leading excellent lives who are in the strictest sense "in society." They, however, are like the happy nation ; they have no history, and therefore the outside publics hears very little about them. There seems no particular object to be attained by the writing of a book like Souls; it is not amusing, and it is anything but edifying.
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