The harassed journalist finds it difficult to believe that the
public which reads novels on the whole prefers the long to the short. Yet there are many signs—besides the vogue of Mr. J. B. Priestley—that it is so. A most timely gift book therefore is The Fortunes of Richard Mahony, by Henry Ilande I Richardson (Heinemann, 8s. 6d.), which includes in on; volume the trilogy, Australia Felix, The Way Home and Ultima Thule, published at intervals during the last twelve or thirteen years. The critics have, though belatedly, dope full justice to the epic quality of Mrs. Richardson's work, and the book is a precious document for its picture of the Aus- tralian background alone. When to this is added a remark- able psychological insight, and an untrammelled living dialogue, one may perhaps whisper the word " genius." without incurring the scorn of those who, with justice, resent the squandering of that epithet week by week on every twopence-coloured publication.
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