The Hermon. By Algernon Glaring. (F. V. White and Co.
6s.)—Mr. Gissing's new novel is chiefly concerned with the study of a young man, John Pitloh, who after a youth spent in London returns as a herdsman to the Border country whence his family sprang. Wild thunderstorms, deep snow over the dales, and calm halcyon summer weather all in turn play their part in the story, and seem to affect the minds and characters of the personages of the drama. John Pitloh makes an unfortunate merrier, having fallen in love -with the beauty of a woman, whom he invests with the mental and moral characteristics of his cousin Pen,—the only other woman with whom he is acquainted. There are poignantly distressing scenes in the book,—first the death of John and Jessie's child, and then the momentary madness which causes Jessie to wreck her life, and her subsequent illness and death. On the whole, however, the story is more concerned with the great drama of Nature,—the incidents of lambing and shearing, and the gather- ing of the hay harvest, than with the doings of the several characters. It is written with a nobility of tone which is rare indeed in these days, and though the character-drawing is not very subtle, the book is full of strong primitive emotion.
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