Li/ Lorimer. By Theo Gift. (Ward and Downey.)—A novel above
the average. The scene of the story is laid for the most part in Buenos Ayres, and the descriptions of life in that part of South America are both instructive and entertaining. More may be learnt from them than from many a pretentious book of travels. The character-drawing, especially that of the heroine, Lil Lorimer, is also good, and the plot, if it can be called a plot, is simple and natural. But the story depends for its interest less on dramatic episodes and startling surprises than on portrayal of character and analysis of
motive. The author, moreover, does not commit the common absurdity of representing marriage as the one essential of happiness, the consummation to which all things tend, and which invariably places everything on the most satisfactory possible footing ; for marriage marks the beginning of Lil Lorimer's troubles, and in them centres the interest of the novel. Theo Gift's literary style is easy and flowing, and her language, like her fiction, is above the average; but if she would retain her reputation as a writer of graceful English, she should avoid such a profusion of " hads" as appears in the following sentence :—" Even before breakfast, Lil, who had had no previous experience of sheep-shearing, had had her curiosity excited by seeing two large fires burning out of doors in the neighbourhood of the house."
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