Mary Powell, with its sequel, Deborah's Diary--Deborah was the young thing whom to bring into the world Mary Powell died--is one of the most fragrant books in English literature. One thinks of it side by side with John Evelyn's Mrs. Godolphin. Miss Manning had a beautiful style--a style given to her to reconstruct an idyll of old-world sweetness. Limpid as flowing water, with a thought of syllabubs and new-made hay in it, it is a perpetual delight.
