A Lady of Rome. By F. Marion Crawford. (Macmillan and
Co. 6s.)—Mr. Marion Crawford has done his best to make his theme—an account of a roman a trois—inoffensive to English readers. The struggle which the heroine, Maria di Montalto, makes not to allow the lover of her youth to resume his influence over her is meritorious, and finally successful. The first part of the book is an account of how the quondam lovers, after an interval of several years of absence, think it quits safe to play with fire; while the second contains the just Nemesis of this dangerous pastime. The story acquires a flavour of romance from the background of the second part being furnished by the ancient Palazzo Montalto ; but it must be confessed that the defaulting steward's blackmailing plot is a little stagy and melo- dramatic. Mr. Crawford's stories of the society of Rome are always interesting, but it is to be hoped that next time he will abandon the treatment of delicate situations, and give us a novel which can be praised with fewer reservations.
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