Literary Gossip.

LITERARY GOSSIP .

IN " Under the Grand Old Hills ( London : Weir ) , Miss Rosa Mackenzie Kettle has succeeded in presenting the most graphic descriptions of West Worcestershire scenery we ever read . These pen-pictures are so true to nature that all who happen to be acquainted with Malvern and its neighbourhood cannot fail to be impressed and charmed , while strangers to the locality must , as a natural sequence , evince a laudable desire to visit the scenes so lovingly depicted . Seated on the summit of the Herefordshire Beaconone can trace

, the daily course of the rider on the black horse , who figures so prominently in the story , in all its minutiae . The meandering lane , beautified with shady nooks , which dips suddenly on its way to the Severn , is plainly discernible , and did it not lack the glitter and glint of water , might itself be taken for a rivulet running to the parent stream . Fane Court and Dower House are perhaps hidden from the gazer ' s view by the foliage and the curve of the hill ; but if he

were in the mood to solve a pleasing problem , Deep Dene ancl Aviemore might be selected from the houses in the distance—an entertaining speculation . " Under the Grand Old Hills" is of course a standard work at Malvern , and seems likely to remain so for a long time to come . Not only is the local scenario an attraction to the reader , be he a resident or merely paying a- visit to the western water shrinebut the story itself is one of . such quiet power as

, to enchain everyone wdio peruses the work . It is not our intention to reveal the plot . That would manifestly be unfair to the author . Our readers cannot do better than hear it unfolded in the author ' s own graceful manner . Suffice it for us to say that it is well conceived ancl equally well worked out . The characters are no mere sketches , or , like Apelles' portrait of Antigonus , presented in profile only , but are firmly and faithfully drawn and finished . One

of the characters introduced suffices to tincture this thoroughly English story with all the golden glamour ancl effulgence of that deep romanticism incident to Southern climes . The waywardness , the Spanish triokiness , not to say deceit , the foibles and ambition of Cora , are well pourtrayed ; ancl the artistic effect is not broken by making this petulant little beauty settle clown to the matter-of-fact manners and habits which obtain in England at the present time .

By the same author is a prettily got up half-crown volume called " Christmas Berries ancl Summer Roses" ( London : Weir ) , which is published with a view to aid the poor in Ireland ancl for other charitable objects , the whole of the receipts being devoted thereto . The little book contains some remarkabl y effective stories and poems , which are written in Miss Kettle ' s customary excellent st yle . We doubt not that many of our readers will communicate with the author , and so assist her in the good work she thus modestl y inaugurates .

From Messrs . J . A . Brook ancl Co . comes a volume from the pen of Mr . Henry Solly , the well-known author of " Gonzaga , " " Gerald and his Friend the Doctor , " etc . It is called " The Shepherd ' s Dream : A Dramatic Romance , " and treats a subject which will be hi ghly interesting to almost all classes of readers . Mr . Soll y is gifted with great dramatic power , and his exceedingly effective style might well be emulated by aspirants to public notice as dramatists .

The Burlington ( London : Remington and Sons ) is the title of anew aspirant to public support in the magazine world . " It is edited by Miss HelenB . Mathers , the brilliant author of " Comin' thro' the Rye , " etc ., who . opens the number with