Scene: Galway City, Clare Island, and the opposite coast, just before the great War of the Earls. A very highly-coloured romance, full of flashy and dramatic sensation, told with an exuberance of language that sometimes exceeds, but at times is very effective. Some of the descriptive pieces are quite above the common and attain remarkable vividness. The book was written in the midst of the scenes described. An effective device to secure colour is the frequent interjection of Gaelic phrases phonetically spelt. The heroine of the tale is the famous Gránia Ni Mháille, who appears not only as dauntless sea-queen of the O’Malleys, but above all in her womanly character. Fitzwilliam, Bingham, and Perrott also appear, the last as a hero. Though many of the incidents are quite fictitious and few happened exactly as narrated, yet some of those which might seem most incredible to anyone unacquainted with the State Papers could be paralleled by real happenings. Some of the incidents narrated are: the Composition of Connaught, the disgrace of Perrott, the wrecking of the Armada on the Connaught coast, Gránia’s visit to Elizabeth. With Gránia’s love story is entwined another, that of Cahal O’Malley and Nuala O’Donnell. =O’BRIEN, Mrs. W.= Wife of preceding; _née_ Sophie, dau. of Herman Raffalovich, of Paris. She is a convert to Catholicism, and a thoroughly naturalised Irishwoman for many years past. She has written also a book of reminiscences, _Under Croagh Patrick_. I have also seen mentioned as by her a book entitled _Amidst Mayo Bogs_. ⸺ ROSETTE: a Tale of Dublin and Paris. Pp. 266. (_Burns & Oates_). 1907. Diary of Rosette, only child of a Parisian bourgeois family. Deals chiefly with the life of this family in Paris, and afterwards in Dublin. There is no sensationalism. Rosette’s religious development is thoughtfully worked out, and there is good character-drawing (_e.g._, Rosette’s artistically inclined mother and the old servant, Mélanie). The point of view is, of course, distinctly feminine. The style is pretty and graceful. =O’BYRNE, Dermot.= ⸺ CHILDREN OF THE HILLS. Pp. 148. (_Maunsel_). 2_s._ 6_d._ _n.d._ [1913].