Maggie. By Frank Barrett. 3 vols. (Tinsley Brothere.)—If there were
nothing else in this novel that could be noticed besides the Character of Mrs. Carey, this alone would suffice to put it above the average of such books. She is a really charming creature, a picture, remarkably natural, of a loving, helpful wotisan, But the whole story has considerable merit. It is easy to criticise this or that part of it. The motives of the rascally uncle, for instance, are not very unin- telligible. He seems to have paid a very high price to secure his nephew as a decoy for carrying out his scheme of cheating. But the book throughout is cleverly written, and is eminently readable. Mr. Barrett leaves an impression that he might do even much better, were he to take adequate pains. As it is, we can speak well of his novel, and we hope to be able to speak better of what he may give us hereafter.
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