The Passing of Nahla. A Story of the Desert. By Bey Somerville. Crown 8vo, 6s.
This story of Nahla, a native girl child, and of the white man who educates and makes a companion of her, is full of atmosphere. The baby girl is an amusing companion for the educated, temperamental poet, and to see her develop under his guidance and tuition is for him of unfailing interest. In the intense life of the East she is very quickly a grown woman. Her devotion is pathetic in its self abasement, and she is ready to accept either life or death at his hands. The inevitable tragedy is when the desire comes to the man to return to his own people and their code of life. It is then he has to reckon with Nahla’s jealousy and fierce devotion.
Apart from the story the book is worth reading for its rendering of the call and influence of the desert on a highly developed personality. The author feels its magic spell and is very successful in transmitting it to the reader.
DOROTHY M. RICHARDSON
Backwater. A Novel. By Dorothy M. Richardson, author of “Pointed Roofs.” Crown 8vo, 6s.
Those who read “Pointed Roofs” will remember taking leave of Miriam as she got in the train for home, after her term as assistant teacher in a German school was ended. “Backwater” continues the narrative of Miriam’s life, the period now being the emotional period of life, when life is at its fullest.
The reception given to “Pointed Roofs” has given Miss Richardson a status. She is recognized as a writer whose method is original and “different,” and who is thereby successful in conveying by means of a few strokes the vital experiences of her characters and their action on one another. Mr. J. D. Beresford, who contributed an introduction to “Pointed Roofs,” admitted having read the story three times, the pleasure he experienced at the first being increased by subsequent readings. He considers “Backwater” even more interesting.