Lewis Rand. By Mary Johnston. (A. Constable and Co. 68.)—
Miss Johnston has fully grasped the soundness of the principle that an historical novel, if it is to be worth reading, ought to be long. It is impossible to convey a picture of how life was lived in the past except in considerable detail, because the reader must be able to transport himself into the atmosphere of- the time treated of, and an author cannot set the scene with sufficient detail in a few pages. Lewis Rand is Br novel dealing with American life in the days of Jefferson. The scene passes in Virginia, and the action is concerned chiefly with political life. At the same time, Miss Johnston has very cleverly contrived to convey the grace and charm of a time when ladies sang to the harp and the minuet was still danced on occasions of state. The serious interest of the book is centred in the character of Lewis Rand, Democrat and follower of Jefferson, and of his charming wife Jacqueline, whose family belong to the party of the Federalists. Lewis Rand's character is drawn in great detail, and the treachery bred in him by inordinate ambition is made quite credible to the reader. The book displays to the full the author's charm of writing, and will add to her reputation as a serious novelist both by the interest of the plot and by the excellence of the character-drawing.
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