Restitution. By Anne Beale. 3 vols. (Hurst and Blackett.) —This
is a rambling and, we feel constrained to say, a some- what ill-contrived story. There is a very disagreeable and unprincipled millionaire ; the millionaire's wife, to whom he behaves very badly, but who is not a person who calls forth our sympathy; two daughters, each of whom has a lover ; a mysterious wanderer, who turns out to be the millionaire's brother, and to whom and his daughter the " restitution " is made ; and a whole host of minor characters. The book is readable, for Miss Beale has a lively style, and can make her characters talk like real people, without being too naturally dull. In fact, she might be described as Mrs. Henry Wood without Mrs. Wood's favourite mysteries. But a tale of this kind wants a more skil- fully contrived plot than we find in Restitution, though, if we remember right, such a plot is not oat of Miss Beale's reach.
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