Two Banks of the Seine, by Fernand VandÉrem, belongs to the class of literature immortalized by Alphonse Daudet. In it we catch the slightly ironic but good-natured tone familiar to those who have read Sapho; and we perceive the author applying objective psychology to life—Parisian life. For M. VandÉrem is not only Gallic, but vitally Parisian. His attitude towards men and women is sophisticated; but his art is always fresh and true. He is a realist who does not disdain to make use of romance when it suits his purpose.

Two Banks of the Seine is an interesting story wherein the life of the Latin Quarter and that of the upper classes are brought into sharp contrast. This supplies the author with ample material suitable to his peculiar bent. He handles his material with clear vision, often with delicate sympathy, and never without humor. The men and women in the book are sketched with a sure pen, and are put and kept in motion by a firm hand. They are made to move about briskly before us and to speak with the accents of life. Like all great novelists, M. VandÉrem is more interested in character and human relationships than in plot. His book is not so much a novel in the ordinary sense as a comedy of manners.

Our author knows his Parisian well. He has studied him in the home and in the street; at work and at play. Few contemporary novelists afford us a clearer insight into the workings of the mind of the elusive Parisian, or a more intimate knowledge of his temperament.

M. VandÉrem has written a number of novels besides Two Banks of the Seine; it is sufficient to mention here his Charlie and his La Victime, works of unusual merit.

Barnet J. Beyer.

26th February, 1919.