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It is possible that The Sea Bride (MILLS AND BOON) may be too violent to suit all tastes, for Mr. BEN AMES WILLIAMS writes of men primitive in their loves and hates, and he describes them graphically.  The scenes of this story are set on the whaler Sally, commanded by a man of mighty renown in the whaling world.  When we meet him he has passed his prime and has just taken unto himself a young wife.  She goes with him in the Sally, and the way in which Mr. WILLIAMS shows how her courage increases as her husband’s character weakens wins my most sincere admiration.  His tale would be nothing out of the common but for his skill in giving individuality to his characters.  Things happen on the Sally, bloodthirsty, sinister, terrible things, which the author neither glosses nor gloats over, being content to make them appear essential to the development of the story.  I am going to keep my eye on Mr. WILLIAMS, chiefly because he can write enthrallingly, but partly to see if he will accept a word of advice and be a little more sparing in his use of those little dots ... which are the first and last infirmity of writers who have no sense of punctuation.

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When a young man sets out to London to make money for his relations he usually (in a novel) writes a book which sells prodigiously—­quite an easy thing to do in a novel.  Mr. John Wilberforce, however, avoids the beaten track in The Champion of the Family (FISHER UNWIN). Jack Brockhurst, the champion in question, became a member of the Stock Exchange, and, if you will accept my invitation and follow his fortunes, I can promise you a fluttering time.  Mr. WILBERFORCE’S name is unknown to me, and I judge him more experienced in the mysteries of the Stock Exchange than in the art of fiction; but I like his constructive ability and I like his courage.  He does not hesitate to make his champion a prig, which is exactly what a youth so idolised by his family would be likely to become.  But, though a prig by training, Jack was not by nature a bore, and his relations (especially his father and sister) are delightful people.  Altogether I find this a most promising performance.

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[Illustration:  “HAVEN’T YOU ANYONE YOU CAN PLAY WITH, BOBBY?”

“I HAVE ONE FRIEND—­BUT I HATE HIM.”]