Miss Wilkins we have always with us, thank Fortune. lf recently she had not achieved far greater deeds, the little bundle of sketches entitled "The People of Our Neighborhood" would deserve more than honorable mention, for they are simple and compact, and in most other respects as workmanlike as they are interesting. Here and there a cleft infinitive, and such a sentence as Amanda Todd might have eschewed cats, or He has been known to name the wedding-day instead of the bride, perhaps indicate that Miss Wilkins occasionally relaxes her quest of euphony and lucidity. One would rather like to know whether, if Timothy Samson: the Wise Man had not appeared in the Ladies Home Journal, Miss Wilkins would have called his pipe-smoke a strange atmosphere for wisdom to thrive in; and why allude at all to the gum-drops in Timothys pockets if for some occult reason they never seemed to stick, even in hot weather?
The Book Buyer: A Monthly Review of American and Foreign Literature [ 1898]
This volume of short stories contains sketches of New England life, clever and characteristic as all of this favorite author's stories are. The little volume will doubtless be much appreciated not only for its interesting contents, but also for its attractive appearance, being charmingly illustrated by Alice Barber Stephens, and daintily bound. It makes a pretty little gift.
Book Notes: A Monthly Literary Magazine and Review of New Books, Volume 2 [ 1899]
