28 FEBRUARY 1903, Page 24

Crimson Lilies. By May Crommelin. (John Long. 6s.)— Crimson Lilies

is a pleasant novel of modern days, with a taste of romance given it by the parentage of the heroine. There is something perennially attractive in the distinguished Jews of Palestine, and the chapters at the end, in which the story is shifted to Jerusalem and Jericho, are among the most interesting in the book. There are two young ladies—twins—who almost pass the possible bounds of disagreeableness in trying to be modern, smart, and heartless. The hero, too, is not przticularly interesting. But the heroine is ready for all and every adventure, and so keeps the story together as to render it quite readable.