Bird of Paradise. By Ada Leverson. (Grant Richards. 6s.)—We confess
that, until we read Mrs. Leverson's novel, we were loth to acknowledge how second-rate most people are; neither had we realized what a lot of true love there is in the world. Both these facts have been brought forcibly home to us, for we find that we know, or at all events have met, Berthas and Percy's innumerable; and this is, on the whole, a cheering discovery, since, in spite of their innate vulgarity, such folk are quietly, decisively devoted to each other : it was quite delightful to find in modern fiction a married couple who went through life without a suspicion of intrigue. Some of the other characters of Vie book are vulgar 'without this saving grace of marital happiness, but they are all with one exception, true to life, and, we regret to say, attractive; in the didactic Rupert and his uncertain love affairs we cannot believe, do what we will. Mrs. Leverson has brilliant insight and a light, amusing style of writing, but here and there she is careless enough to provide material for Punch. "She had come out with two left-handed gloves, and during the whole of the interview endeavoured to force a left hand into a right- band glove. It was maddening to watch her." It is even more maddening to find this sort of thing cropping up throughout the book.
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