gh's
Daughter_ (CONSTABLE), is among the best of them. _Cuddy_ himself is
delightfully irresponsible, and I felt a pang of disappointment when he
disappeared from the scene, although, considering that he became
increasingly lazy and comatose as he grew older, his decease, perhaps,
was not premature. Apart from his affability, _Cuddy's_ only claim to
distinction lay in the fact that he was the father of his daughter.
_Violet's_ lot fell in rather stony places; as a child she was
practically the guardian of her own father, and after his death she was
governess to the child of a woman as irresponsible as _Cuddy_, but not
half so comfortable to live with. Men swarmed round this _Lady
Lassiter_, and she loved most of them. Under the circumstances it was
fortunate that she had a most unsuspicious and tolerant husband. With no
hesitation I recommend the tale of _Cuddy_ and his daughter to the
notice of all except the ultra-moderns. But, lest I should fail as a
critic if I did no carping, I will say that, though I do not belong to
any Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Infinitives, I should like
Miss SILBERRAD to look at page 94, where she will find one that is not
only split but split to smithereens.

* * * * *

On the paper wrapper of _Sarah Eden_ (MILLS AND BOON) the publishers
themselves call it "a novel of great distinction." Filled as I am with
the natural lust of the reviewer to contradict a publisher about his own
wares, I am bound to admit that I can find no phrase more apt for the
impression this book has made upon me. There is exceptional distinction
in the scheme of Miss E. S. STEVENS' story, and there is even more in
the grave charm and dignity of its telling. It is the record of the
development of a singular and beautiful character; "a spiritual
adventure" might have been its sub-title, for the events in _Sarah
Eden's_ life were those of mind rather than body. There are two main
divisions of the story: in the first we watch _Sarah_ from her
beginnings as a quiet introspective child in her Devon home, and through
the short course of her unsatisfactory married life. With considerable
skill the author has here shown the various forces that were at work
building up the heroine's character, and that strange blending of a
practical and commanding efficiency with the idealism of a dreamer that
exactly fitted her for the part she plays in the second half of her
story. The change come