Cloth versus Silk. By Dorothea Conyers. (Hutchinson and Co. 6s.)—This
is the story of a young man, the son of a parson with a strong objection to horse-racing, who falls in love with the daughter of a man whose chief ambition is to win the Grand National. The parson only consents to the marriage on the con- dition that the stable is given up ; the lady's father departs for Australia, and is believed to be lost; and the daughter feels herself bound, in deference to her father's wishes, to postpone the wedding till one more attempt has been made to win the great race. The delay provides endless occasions for misunderstand- ings on both sides, which make up the plot of the story. In the end everything comes right, the lover winning the race with his own horse, and the bride's father returning safe from the Antipodes. Like all Mrs. Conyers's work, the book is full of humour and intricate knowledge of Irish life. It is hardly neces- sary to say that the sporting part is done with much spirit and complete accuracy in details. But the plot she has chosen gives less opportunity for those sketches of Irish peasants in which she is at her best ; and it is too melodramatic in essence and too dependent upon arbitrary coincidences to be quite satisfactory. At the same time, it ought to be said in fairness that, while the book is less attractive than her other works, the character. drawing is at a higher level.
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