I Crown Thee King : a Romance. By Max Pemberton.
With Illustrations by Frank Dadd and A. Forestier. (Methuen and Co. 6s.)—The King crowned in Max Pemberton's romance of the days of Queen Mary—Mary Tudor, by the way, not Mary Stuart—is Roy of Calverton, a sort of successor to Robin Hood in the sovereignty of Sherwood Forest. He loves, woos, and finally wins his neighbour, the Lady Barbara, heiress of 011erton. But there are many difficulties to be got over, among others that of differing faiths : Roy is of the old confession, Barbara of the new. Once married, they ride to London on the eve of Wyatt's insurrection with the object of obtaining a Royal pardon for -Roy. Roy is able to save London, and he wins the profound gratitude of the Queen. It is a pleasant novelty in historical fiction to have the Tudor Mary on the stage, and her visit to Roy in prison makes the best chapter of the book. The manner of the story is that of the older convention of romanos,—language, dresses, attitudes, and situations are all eminently picturesque, but not quite eminently convincing.
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