Hodder and—Stoughton—London 1014.
Readers of Mr. Ian Hay will be prepared in any book of his for many delightful qualities, a delicious sense of humour, delicate! characterization, a pleasant story and a light firm touch. But 4 Knight on Wheels goes far ahead of all his previous efforts, indeed it may be fairly described as one of the best novels produced this year. Tt is a difficult task to draw a good picture of a boy, still more difficult to make him grow up naturally and logically into a man. In_ both' points Mr. Ian Hay has succeeded admirably. It is not too much to say that Philip will rank as one of the most convincing boys in fiction, and as a man he is no less natural and vivid. As a complement to him Timothy is also exceedingly good, if at times a bit too brilliant in nis foolery to be quite believable. But one would not have him otherwise.
Peggy is another wonderful example of a character begun in chi hood and carried through to riper years with unsurpassed—success, and even Sylvia, "the Dumpling", little as she appears, is a very recognizable and congenial young person. There remains Mr. Julius! Mablethorpe, i doings are a piece of pure delight, with a substratum of sound wisdom beneath all his levity which strikes: atru2 note. Apart from these there is a host of characters all good, realizable and in their several ways attractive, Miss Jennings particularly so, the best specimen of the London typist that we remember. The only rather weak point in the book is the second marriage of Montayu Falconer: but this may be forgiven. Of many entrancing scenes the descriptions of the fu-rushing of the flat and of an evening at a London music hall may specially be singled out. Altogether A Knight on Wheels is one of the freshest, in every way one of the moat delightful books we remember reading or a very long time.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.