THE MAKING OF A COUNTRY HOME.
The Making of a Country Home. By J. P. Mowbray. (A. Con- atable and Co. 6s.)-111r. and Mrs. John Dennison were a young American couple living in New York on an income of between .e500 and £600 a year when the book begins. The man was a clerk in a business house "down town," and though his position was good, there was no outlet in his life for energy and ambition. So be and his wife determined to save nearly £200 a year for two years, and at the end of that time to buys cottage in the country. It seem d easy enough on paper, but it was a hard struggle completely to alter their ways of living, and Lucy, the wife, was neatly worn out by it. However, they Awls to it bravely. Then another set of difficulties arose, those of finding a house to suit them, and, when that was accomplished, of coping with all the country problems of gardening and improvements. But John was doggedly determined to succeed, and Lucy was a young woman of character, endowed with charm and good spirits, and though at one time the prospect was cloudy, the sun shines brightly at the end of the book. Mr. Mow- bray writes with humour, and though some of the situations may appear strange to the English reader, it is a bright and amusing book. We will not attempt to criticise the tables of income and expenditure, or to describe the minute practical details as to gardening and building in Rockland County ; but one of the things that chiefly strikes the reader is the amount of settee housework that the women of the family do. Before they began to save, Mrs. Dennison cooked her husband's dinner—and very well too—and afterwards she seems to do all the work of their fiat; and when they have settled down in the country, she and her mother prepare and bring in the dishes for a Thanksgiving Day party, and yet she succeeds in dressing prettily and playing the piano. She is a bright example to Englishwomen. Besides the Dennisone there is another young couple, of exactly opposite tastes, to whom the city is all-im- portant, an irresponsible artist, and several country "characters." Mr. C. E. Hooper's designs for the title-page and head and tail pieces for the chapters are very pretty.
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