Dorset Dear. By M. E. Francis (Mrs. Francis Blundell). (Long.
mans and Co. 6s.)—Seldom has it been the present writer's fate to read so delightful a collection of country idylls as Mrs. Francis Blundell's new volume of short stories, Dorset Dear. Mrs. Blundell's delicate sense of humour in no way deprives her of feelings of the warmest sympathy for the country men and women whom she draws. She may laugh at her creations, but the laugh is always tender and full of sympathetic comprehension of her subject. The characters in the little sketches are vividly drawn, and Postman Chris, Keeper Guppy, and Betty Whittle all impress us as being real people whom we have known. The story of which the last-named character is heroine, "In the Heart of the Green," is one of the most successful in the book. In this, "The Woodland Idyll," and "The Call of the Woods" the author reaches a very high level of excellence, and causes the reader to realise to the full the magic of "the wind on the hill" and the "song of the open road."
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