25 JUNE 1898, Page 13

His Fault or Hers? By the Author of "A High

Little World." (R. Bentley and Son.)—If only the writer could have persuaded herself to go on as she began ! The opening chapters are admirable. The father who does not find any opposition between piety and happiness, the brilliant butterfly of a daughter, the stalwart lover, all are delightful. Delightful, too, is the picture of rural life and manners, with such touches as this : " In good farming society a horse always knows his way home." But it is too good and too pleasant to last. In the end we are left with the bitter taste of the unanswered question,—Why does he not curse God and die ? The Book of Job begins, we may say, with this problem. His Fault or Hers? ends with it.