29 NOVEMBER 1902, Page 24

The Book of the House. By Felix_ Noel. (J. M.

Dent and Co. 2s. 6d. net.)—This is an amusing account of the troubles which a young married couple undergo in looking for, settling on, and altering to suit their taste and convenience a house in the country. The search is the first act of the drama of the house; the second and third picture to us what the two suffer when they have got into their house in finding servants, and in providing otherwise foa the wants of life, notably in the matter of food. It is a pleasantlj written exaggeration of rural discomforts. As, after all, the sojourners become permanent residents, and have no wish to gc back to London, there is no need to take the satire too seriously.