Jenny a Village Idyll. By M. A. Curtois. (Eden, Reming-
ton, and Co.)—This story unites in a remarkable degree two excellences,—subtle delineation of character and the vivid picturing of Nature. We at once recognise as real human beings the dramatis personm of Miss Curtois's tale. As for the scenery, no one who knows the country about Lincoln will fail to see how truthfully it is drawn. There are faults, we cannot but think, in the construction of the story. It was a mistake, in our judgment, to make Annie leave her husband so very soon. There are several objections to this incident ; one of them is surely to be found in the probabilities of the case. Would she have returned to her home within a few hours because her husband wished to keep the marriage secret ? Surely she would have tried some power of persuasion. The incident of the last bank-note is somewhat clumsily managed. People who open letters surreptitiously are commonly far more careful to conceal the deed than Tina seems to have been. But these are only slight faults in a really powerful story.
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