Briar and Palm. By Annie S. Swan. (Oliphant and Co.,
Edinburgh.) —This "Story of Circumstance and Influence," as the author calls it, is a well-conceived and interesting tale. Anne Holgate, the low-born widow of a man of family, has brought up her two children for different lots. Her son, who may succeed to the family property, is to be a gentleman ; her daughter, a woman of the people. The lines which the two take curiously fulfil, and also curiously disappoint, the mother's plans. This is worked out with considerable skill. Both man and woman interest us ; but the girl, the stronger character of the two, presents, as doubtless she is intended to present, the more striking figure. Rhoda Holgate, with her passionate convictions as to the wrongs and rights of the people, her honesty and her candour, is a person whom we are glad to read about.
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