From the title, _Brute Gods_ (HEINEMANN), you may guess that Mr. LOUIS WILKINSON'S new novel does not deal with homely topics in a vein of harmless frolic. In recommending this very serious work of an expert author and observer, I am bound to make some reservation. Unsophisticated youth, if such there be in these days, should be kept away from the affair between _Alec Glaive_ and _Gillian Collett_. _Alec_, a mere boy, was in a dangerously unsettled condition when the lady crossed his path. His mother had upset a not too happy family by eloping with a literary _poseur_; the egoism of his father had been rendered even more oppressive and his sarcasm even more acid thereby; and a Roman Catholic priest, intent on securing a convert for his Order, had been plying his young mind with too exciting conversations and too refreshing wines. Apart from external circumstances, _Alec_ was tending to quarrel with humanity at large, and so he went the whole hog, more in search of a desperate ideal than by way of impetuous sin. Mr. WILKINSON treats the affair with deliberate, cold-blooded, even cynical analysis; and his portrayal of the snobbery and humbug of the upper-middle class, social and intellectual, in which his creatures move is searching and disturbing. But, I ask myself, are people really like that? Or rather are there enough of these unnaturals, extremists, moral Bolshevists or whatever you like to call them, to justify their presentation as a modern type? Always an optimist, I think not; and I notice that the author gives a no less clever and a much more convincing impression of the normal, settled and pleasant characters who are incidental to the plot. Make for yourself the acquaintance of the charming _Wilfred Vail_ and the most amusing and seductive Cockney artiste, _Betty Barnfield_, and you will admit, however pessimistic your views, that there may be something in mine. * * * * * [Illustration: ROMANCE AND PROSE. _The Youth._ "CAN YOU DIRECT ME TO THE CASTLE OF THE BLACK MOUNTAIN?" _The Old Man._ "I CAN, YOUNG MAN. BUT PERCHANCE THOU GOEST TO SEEK THE HAND OF THE PRINCESS? BEWARE, RASH YOUTH! IT IS A PERILOUS ADVENTURE. THOU WILT BE REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE MANY DANGEROUS TASKS. HAST THOU THOUGHT OF THE RISK?" _The Youth._ "NOT MUCH. I'M GOIN' TO MEND THE KITCHEN BOILER."] * * * * * PALMAM QUI MERUIT FERAT. "The Czecho-Slovaks were greeted this afternoon by a committee of Vancouver ladies, representing the Red Cross Society. The war-worn veterans were presented with a package containing cigarettes, an orange and a chocolate bar, in recognition of valuable services rendered the Allied cause."--_Canadian Paper._ * * * * * "PRINCE GEORGE IN SWEDEN. Prince George has been enjoying the sights of Christiania and its beautiful surroundings."--_Morning Paper._ He should now visit Stockholm and give Norway a turn.