The Sear. By Francis Warrington Dawson. (Methuen and Co. 6s.)—Although
published by an English house, The Scar is, like the book mentioned above, a story of American life. The scene is
laid in Virginia, and the whole atmosphere of the book is as different from that of the story of" Cynthia Day" as it is possible 'to imagine. The author gives a very grim picture of life on a Virginian plantation ruined by the war, and makes the reader understand what is the nature of the " scar " which the great conflict left on the face of the vanquished South. The characters, while lifelike, are anything but attractive, and the heroine's actions do not always carry conviction. It is the pictures of negro life, and the reminder of the inevitable evil consequences of even the most just of civil wars, that make the book deserving of attention. It is well written, and the author has been merciful in the use of the neg,ro dialect.
Previous page
