The Little Larrikin. By Ethel Turner. (Ward, Lock, and Co.)
—This is a most delightful, pathetic, and humorous—yet neither too pathetic nor too humorous—story of the impoverished yet struggling Carruther family in Sydney. The life and soul of the household is the little larrisin Lol, the youngest of the family_ Ignorant of some at least of the troubles which weigh heavily upon his eldest brother Roger, a struggling barrister and journalist, this imp plays all sorts of pranks, such as running away with a hawker's cart. At the same time, he is full of shrewd sense, knows when it is not desirable to interfere with lovers, and can even save his brother Martin when the latter is going to the dogs. Roger is also a good fellow, and if the love-making between him and his ccmparatively "high-born" sweetheart Linley Middleton is rather too grotesque, or at least Dickensesque, the latter is quite a genuine girl of her sort. Her sister Marcia is an excellent sketch of a young woman who marries for position rather than for love, and who is improved by misfortune. Altogether The Little Larrikin has the two merits of originality and sim- plicity.
Previous page
