Edgar Chirrup. By Peggy Webling. (Methuen and Co. 6s.) .,-Though
we have discovered several split infinitives in Miss Webling's book, we wish to praise very highly indeed her style of writing. She can be satirical without bitterness, light without flippancy, above all genuinely pathetic: she takes her phrases between her hands and turns them whither she wilL As regards the matter of the story, wo were inclined to think that, in choosing to depict Edgar Chirrup as from first to last an actor, the writer had deprived herself of opportunity and scope, and, by a leek of that subtlety which alone can justify such a monotonous setting, was running the danger of dulness and triviality. But the emotions become more intricate and more passionate with the advent of Clara, and in the second half of the book there are some admirable scenes of disillusionment between the husband and wife; moreover, Miss Webling is unusually brilliant in the drawing of her women characters, and Auntie 'Bora is a figure to be laughed at and beloved. Altogether, Edgar Chirrup is a novel of distinction, not free from faults, but free at least from unambitious conventionality.
Previous page
