STILL WATERS. By Maude Leeson. (Allen and Unwin. 7s. 6d.)—The
author has an imagination capable of tackling successfully very ambitious work. In this book she has formed her characters with sympathy and true insight, at the same time making them take their places naturally in a story that is substantially built, both in vivid detail and in general architecture. We feel that to be so convincing in these two phases of a work a novelist must be possessed of a strong imaginative impulse, controlled by a conscientious artistry. There is little doubt that the author, with a more mature and flexible moral outlook, will succeed in even more courageous work. At present there is just a touch of the traditional in her characters which shows too clearly, and thereby detracts a little from their vitality. Nevertheless, they are in a true tradition which, when the author's personality more fully informs it, will give her work a core of permanence. We await her next book with interest.
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