KETTLE contributes a very interesting and sympathetic account of her
gallant husband's life. It would have been impossible for such a man
not to have hated the German tyranny.

* * * * *

Mr. STACY AUMONIER takes for his theme the development of a clever
neurotic, _Arthur Gaffyn_, who stands, in relation to normal life
and normal feelings, _Just Outside_ (METHUEN)--a common modern type,
perhaps a commoner type in all ages than the obvious records show. The
author handles with real subtlety the phases of Arthur's marriage with
a woman much older than himself, a marriage in which the hunger of
the woman for love was a greater factor than the not deeply stirred
passion of the man. Then, with the appearance of the destined mate,
beauty and youth and desire carry the day against duty, but neither
callously nor flippantly. The insight and sympathy displayed in
the analysis of motive are remarkable. The author has a real gift
for portraiture. In particular he touches in his minor folk with
extraordinarily deft defining lines. Perhaps in general there is
a little hesitancy in craftsmanship, a slight quavering between
the fashionable modern realism and an older romanticism. But the
seriousness of his artistic intention, the solidity of his work (which
is by no means to say stodginess, quite the contrary) will commend Mr.
AUMONIER to all who care to listen to people who have the one thing
necessary, something to say; and the other thing desirable, a pleasant
way of saying it.

* * * * *

In its quiet unobtrusive way _When Michael Came to Town_ (HUTCHINSON)
is a most excellent specimen of Madame ALBANESI's art. No sound of
war is to be heard in it, and when I think how completely some of our
novelists have failed when trying to deal with contemporary events
I cannot be too thankful that this novel is laid in a period before
the Germans became an uncivilised nation. _Olive_, the heroine,
a delightful girl, is the supposititious child of _Sir James
Wenborough_, whose wife, in his absence and without his knowledge,
secured her as a substitute for their own child, who died at its
birth. The secret is disclosed by an unscrupulous minx, who uses the
knowledge she has obtained to push her way into the _Wenborough_
household. Men are not Madame ALBANESI'S strongest points, but in
_Roderick Guye_ and _Michael Wenborough_ we have well-contrasted
characters, and the worst tha