Pigs in Clover. By Frank Denby. (W. Heinemann. ea.) —This
is a powerful but disagreeable novel, which is not, however, so vulgar as its title. We have often protested against the mixture of invented characters and real political personages and facts which some novelists appear to consider legitimate. Pigs in Clover is a particularly bad case of this, and one cannot help feeling that the Jameson Raid is not at all a suitable subject for this kind of treatment. A serious matter in which the honour of Britain was involved should not be recorded in a novel in which the facts must be made to fit the story. " The lie that is half a truth " is infinitely harmful in these circumstances. Regarded purely as a work of fiction, the novel is rather disjointed. For instance, the first three chapters narrate minutely the pitiful story of a girl, Aline Hay- ward, who then disappears for nearly half the book. The reader has quite forgotten her, and turned his attention entirely to Joan, the real heroine, before Aline makes a belated reappear- ance. The best chapter in the book is that in which the child- hood of Karl Altha,us is described in a few vivid pages which photograph for the reader the whole force and strength of the Jewish character. If the author could keep his work to this level, his books would be worth reading indeed. But unfortunately, notwithstanding that the novel is, as stated above, powerful though disagreeable, the level of this particular chapter is not approached elsewhere.
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