The author of Music at Midnight (Heinemann, 15s.) is Ruth
Draper's sib-ter-in-law, Muriel Draper. Her book sets out to recreate the artistic world of London just before the. War. She attracted a number of well-known musicians to her salon, 19 Edith Grove, Chelsea, and describes them as they appeared to her, talking and making music far into the night. Among them were Thibaud, Casals, Rubinstein, lifoiseiwitsch, Chaliapine and the London String Quartet. It is to be expected, perhaps, that a hostess who has been so fortunate in her encounters and invitations will not be over- critical of any performance that her guests consent to give beneath her roof. So we may be tolerant of the succession of superlatives which run like a golden thread through the
teiture. of the book, and accept it for what it sets out to be (and, indeed, what it is)—a readable account of a section of London life during the seasons of 1918 and 1914.
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