'Twist Wood and See. By Elizabeth Godfrey. 3 vols. (Chap-
man and Hall.)—A first novel, which this seems to be, is pretty certain to be marred by the faults which come of inexperience in narrative construction, and they are tolerably plentiful in 'Twist Wood and Sea. Miss Godfrey has, in the first place, adopted one of the most irritating and inartistic ways of beginning her story. The first volume opens with a prologue, and then the author harks back for twenty years or more, the situation disclosed in the opening pages not being reached again until the end of the third volume. Then, too, there is a sad lack of proportion. The record of the heroine's dismal childhood contains some pretty end graceful passages, but it is tiresomely over-elaborated ; and the same criticism applies to the story of her still more dismal life with her disreputable husband, Wylder, who is a card-sharper, profligate, and a writer of Zolaesque novels. Miss Godfrey's attempt to win our sympathy for Eleanor, when she determines to leave this scoundrel, and to depart under the protection of her groom, is neither very successful nor very edifying ; and, indeed, David Wyeth's sudden transformation from the loyal servant into the lover and tempter is a very disagreeable piece of business. The author of 'Twist Wood and Sea is not deficient in souse of the qualities that go to the making of a capable novelist; but in her next book she will do well to choose a wholosomer theme, and to be a little less long-winded in treating it.
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