Sylvana's Letters to an Unknown Friend. By E. V. B.
(Mac- millan and Co. 8s. 6d.)—One more garden book ! Sylvana in her first letter to Amaryllis makes it a condition that her "un- known friend" shall never expect "a single word about the usual topics of the day—books or people, &c.—nor about anything else but gardens and the pure joy of them." These subjects are proscribed on the first page, so no one who wants to hear about them need read the book. I few well-told anecdotes about superstitions attaching to trees—of which we should like to have heard more—a dog whose character and person are vividly described, and a few birds, supply a little relief to the still life of this indeed "deserted garden." "E. V. B." has rather spun out her joy. She writes very well, and manages to give us a feeling of the fresh Scotch air in the " Nethermuirlands" garden, and a desire to see the crimson wild roses which she says grow in the hedges round Ballater, but she keeps the reader standing about too long, and before he gets to the last "letter" we think he will be conscious of a strong desire to go indoors and talk about something else.
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