The Oahleyilcs. By E. F. Benson. (Hodder and Stoughton. 6s.)—Mr.
Benson tells of the distressful complications that may shape themselves when a famous novelist comes into direct contact with an unfriendly reviewer; so we are glad that we have refrained from unfriendliness, and have never imputed to Mr. Benson Wilfred's opinion that to write potboilers "merely keeps your pen in practice for the happy day, should it ever come, when you have something authentic, something of your own to say." Nevertheless, we have lately been afraid lest Mr. Benson was descending to the happy, lazy, pot-boiling way of successful and prolific writers. Here is evidence that he is not : his style is still as fresh and energetic as in his earliest novels. The Oakleyites are the dwellers in Oakley, a town three miles from the sea, a larger and modernized Cranford with a slow train service from London, with its own life, its own delightful inhabitants, its art societies, and its scandal. In this new environment we meet all the old friends, who pass in and out of Mr. Benson's doors, and converse in dialogue which only just avoids artificial brilliancy; and in the three married sisters, who pin their faith respectively to vegetarianism, deep-breathing, and Christian Science, we discover no less than three new editions of Lady Snnningdale.
A Young Man's Year. By Anthony Hope. (Methuen and Co. 6s.)—To some people the world appears as a succession of events, to others as a collection of individuals. Arthur Lisle, of the Middle Temple, Esquire, belonged to the latter class. His whole career was, we are sure, dominated by men and women, and subject to their personalities; and the particular year in his life with which Mr. Anthony Hope is concerned was a battleground between Bernadette, with her brilliant, wealthy, well-educated friends, and the jolly, selfmade clique of the Sarradets in Regent's Park : even his work at the Bar could not be freed from the intrusion and influence of other minds. In these dreary days of abandoned professions and broken hearts it is good to find a story as cheerful as this one, in which the hero is successful both in his work and in his love affairs ; surely there never was, for a young man, a year so filled with varied experience. The book is, of course, delightfully written, with a most romantic flavour ; and on p. 110 we discovered, to our joy, a conversation which might have come straight out of The Dolly Dialogues.
Through a Dartmoor Window, By Beatrice Chase. (Long. mane and Co. 4s. 6d. net.)—Before we can commend Miss Chase's latest book, we have a good deal to forgive her. She is so extravagantly wasteful of her capital letters, so fond of a pretty sentiment; she calls her mother "The RainbowMaker," her dog "The Tweed Dog." And, at the risk of gaining for ourselves the epithet of Philistine, we must confess that such emotionalism seems to us just now a little more than inadequate, a little jarring. Life and death are, at last, so simple and so majestical . that to expend much devotion on a hyacinth in a blue jar, or on an artistic cottage window, is somehow out of tune with the times. Having said this, we will readily admit that there is much that is admir. able in Miss Chase's work. Her genuine love and under. standing go far, in spite of exaggeration, to make it interesting; and her way of gossiping—a trick svhieh few writers can indulge in without becoming self.00nseious—is so
pleasant and unassuming as to seem a conversation, or, at most formal, a written letter. Moreover, the Dartmoor folk of whom she tells are a most delightful set of friends to meet.
READABLE NOVELS.—Jacob Peek. By Sidney Herbert Burchell. (Gay and Hancock. 6s.)—A gossipy story of neighbours and rivals in the orange-growing industry of Southern California.—Of Sandy Hook. By Richard Dehan. (William Heinemann. 6s.)—Most of these short stories are farcical; they are admirably written, as is always the way with "Richard Dehan's " work.—The Pioneers. By Katharine Susannah Prichard. (Hodder and Stoughton. 6s.)—The Australasian prize novel in Hodder and Stoughton's competition. Its author is more generous with atmosphere and local colour than with events.—The Ocean Sleuth. By Maurice Drake. (Methuen and Co. 6s.)—An intricate story of the stealing and tracing of banknotes. Mr. Drake can tell a capital tale, especially when he is concerned with the sea.
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