The Opportunist. By G. E. Mitten. (A. and C. Black.
6s.)— A political romance is always opened with a pleasant little stir of excitement by London readers. For by some extraordinary twist of the human mind, people like to read about and to see acted on the stage just the things that they see round them in everyday life. Every man feels a sense of complacent superiority who can say : "Oh. that really is extremely good. I ought to know all about it, you know, because of course," &c., &c., &c. As the object of the novelist and the actor is to put the audience into a good temper, the presentation of a life which so many readers understand is always popular. Unfortunately, the author of The Opportunist hardly makes the most of his chance. The hero is represented as a very unscrupulous and dishonest poli- tician, who, however, seems really to refuse all opportunities os advancement, and to turn his coat just at the very moment when it would be to his advantage to wear it the right side out. The love interest, too, is not well managed, and the strenuous young lady, Vera, with her fits of nervous collapse, is not in the least convincing. However, the book cannot be said to be unreadable; and that is always something.
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