Mr. Howells is giving us in ' Indian Summer' some of the very best work he has ever done ; full of the same dainty piquantness, but alive with deeper sympathies and meanings. This is full, not merely of what average people say and do, but of what average people think and feel behind what they say and do. The difference between 'Silas Lapham' and 'Indian Summer' is like the difference between a pearl and an opal : the opal has a soul. Nothing could be more entertaining than the letter of Mrs. Bowen as a perfect illustration of a poor woman trying to be just, but unconsciously adding a touch to make it seem that the other woman has not won so much after all; while Colville's bright talk, Mr. Howells's allusion to his own work, and bits of description of the beautiful old garden, are as amusing as anything Mr. Howells has ever given; and to all this there is added a depth of significance lending dignity to the funniness.
