Books: Victorian Romance

GENTLEMEN—THE REGIMENT!—Hugh Talbot—Harper ($2.50). Weather-wise scanners of the literary skies say the prevailing winds are swinging into the romantic quarter. Anthony Adverse provided a whole bale of straws. And historical romances are now the order of the day. Though Author Talbot's Gentlemen—The Regiment! contains one or two scenes that certainly would not have amused Her Britannic Majesty, its general tone is dashingly Victorian. In mid-19th Century, when well-bred wives called their husbands "Mr." even in bed, the English county town of Harwick centred proudly in its two famed infantry regiments,...