The Colthorpe Cousins, and other Stories. By Annie Thomas. 3
vole. (F. V. White and Co.)—It is always somewhat of an annoy- ance to find what one had expected to be a novel of the customary
length disintegrated, so to speak, into some twenty fragments. These little stories are, for the most part, tiresome. A writer with any sense of prudence will not waste a really good idea upon them. The motive, therefore, is commonly inadequate, and there is not opportunity to
show much skill in the working-out. Of course, love is mostly the the theme of The Colthorpe Cousins and its fellows. The young
women are, we observe, pretty, and for the most part, headstrong, —that is to say, when they are not deceitful. The men are feeble. But it is impossible to criticise this multitude of stories. Let it suffice to say that they have not merit enough to do away the first un- favourable impression produced by finding that the book is not what it seems.
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