The love story of Ivor Jermyn, who for reasons connected with an hereditary family curse is induced by his mother to become a Benedictine. During a vacation five years after his profession he meets his former love at a country house, and a liaison is formed. Taxed with this by his rival, the shock makes him see the family “ghost”—the “old man of horror.” A fatal illness results, and he leaves the field to his rival. Written pleasantly and lightly. Shows little knowledge of Catholic ways and doctrines. ⸺ THE ESSENCE OF LIFE. Pp. 320. (_Long_). 6_s._ 1911. Youth is “the Essence of Life,” as exemplified in the heroine’s crowded moments in the social life of Dublin and London, closing with her marriage with Lord Portstow, but shadowed by the tragedy of a beautiful actress, who turns out to be her mother. The novel does not rise above the commonplace.—[TIMES LIT. SUPPL.]. =ALEXANDER, L. C.= ⸺ THE BOOK OF BALLYNOGGIN. Pp. 315. (_Grant, Richards_). 6_s._ 1902. Stories of a miscellaneous kind, mostly humorous, told in a pleasant and readable style. Shows little knowledge of Irish life. The peasantry are treated somewhat contemptuously. The interest at times turns on the absurdities of Irish politics and of Irish legal proceedings. =ALEXANDER, Miriam (Mrs. Stokes).= Born at Birkenhead. Educated at home, except for a short period at Alexandra College, Dublin. Has almost finished another novel, dealing this time with modern Irish life. Was much interested in the Gaelic League till alienated from it by recent events. ⸺ THE HOUSE OF LISRONAN. Pp. 312. (_Melrose_). 6_s._ 1912. A tale of the Williamite wars. Dermot Lisronan vows vengeance on the brutal Dutchman who has driven him from his ancestral home and been the death of his mother. The book is the story of that vengeance. Dermot by a strange fatality marries the daughter of this Dutchman, and some fine psychological and human interest is afforded by the struggle in her mind between love (the love of Dermot’s once bosom friend Fitz Ulick) and wifely duty. The book is full of exciting and dramatic incidents and situations, and never flags from the lurid beginning to the tragic close. The characters are clearly drawn and they are worth drawing:—Bartley, the Hedge-schoolmaster; Taaffe, the besotted coward, sorry product of Williamite rule; Father Talbot, the devoted priest of penal days; Barry Fitz Ulick, a kind of Sir Launcelot, and the rest. William III. is painted in darkest colours, and the penal days that he inaugurated are shown in their full horror, though as an offset to this we have a picture of the persecution of Huguenots in France. N.B.—This novel gained a 250 guinea prize by the unanimous award of three competent judges. Six editions were sold in less than two months.