18 DECEMBER 1886, Page 25

The Head of the House. By Evelyn Everett Green. (Religions

Tract Society.)—An eldest son, who has been long a stranger to the family, comes back to take possession of the inheritance which has been left vacant by the father's sadden death. The story tells how he overcomes, by firmness and kindness happily combined, the cold- ness and hostility with which his half-brothers and sisters—for that is the relationship between him and the other members of the family —receive him. This is done with some power, and the other characters of the story are discriminated with no little skill.