The Story of Julia Page. By Kathleen Norris. (John Murray.
6s.)—We feel sure that Mrs. Norris's latest novel is the result of most careful work. It is well written, very long, considered in every detail. Yet it somehow just fails to keep us keenly attentive ; either because Mrs. Norris indulges in repetition and in those descriptions of personal appearances which are never necessary and usually tiresome, or because we are bewildered by the detail of the book and cannot keep clearly before us its ultimate purpose—the raising of Julia Page from sordid conditions, and her establishment in a higher plane of life, both moral and social, The earlier part of the story is undoubtedly the most interesting, for the kindly crowd of second-rate theatrical folk is admirably drawn ; and we confess that we have more love for the Julie who at fifteen wore dirty blouses and a yellow " bang " of hair, flirted and worked and helped her friends, than for the Julia who, as Jim Studdiford's wife, and as a society woman, is rather depressingly successful.
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