NEW BOOKS,

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1198, 5 August 1911, Page 9

NEW BOOKS,

"The Expiation of John Court." By D Maud. Methuen and Co., Ltd. ' Cs.

Although the name of Mrs. Maud, the author of this book, is not well known in ■S'ew Zealand, same of our readers remember her. sojourn in this country before her marriage. She is a sister of Captain Braithwaite, who ■ was aide-de-camp to Lord Plunket, and with her mother she paid a visit to Lord and Lady Plunket. The scene ef i Mrs. Maud's novel is laid anions the tea plantations of Ceylon, and its subject is the married life of a man whoso religious opinions are at variance with his natural affections. John Court, : after becoming engaged to True, makes the acquaintance of a plausible Christian Scientist and accepts with childlike thoroughness ' the whole doctrine of Mrs. Eddy. Circumstances hasten the'marriage, and it is not until he has taken his brido home to the bungalow, that he'finds an opportunity of telling her about the change in his outlook on life. ■ Prue very naturally resents being asked to belicvo that celibacy is nearer right than' inarrjage, but after several painful'scenes with her husband, she. faithfully sots herself _ to study "Science and Health, .with Key to the Scriptures," She fmas.it a mere incomprehensible jargon. IVt endeavours to win John hack to his J right, senses are frustrated by the untimely reappearance of the highiv objectionable Hinton, who had first introduced 'him to Eddyism. The storv moves on to an unhappy ending which displays the new.creed ia its cryellest . and most absurd aspects. "The Expiation of.'John Court"' is apparently adfgj'.aWlTd'i'rflrst novel. aiid shows considerable skill in characterdrawing, some of the secondary personages being particularly good company, iter book is an effective criticism ol' ono of the most popular, of modern delusions, and it is also—and the combination is really an achievement—a very readable tale.

"Book of the 23rd Congress: New Zealand Chess Association." Edited and annotated by H. L. James. Wright and - Carman,. Wellington.

Mr. James disclaims "any deep knowledge of chess, or any great critical or analytical ability," but this must be only a qiiito unnecessary display of modesty, for his' little book contains evidence of prolonged and careful study of tho literature of the game.' It is a complete record, of the results of tho congress'held at Timaru last Christmas, and is made particularly valuable by Mr. James's illuminatiug notes on the play- His criticisms arc all tho better for being frank, even when frankness involves severe condemnation of a player's mistakes. Chess players—especially those most nearly t concerned —are certain to take such criticism in good part, when they realise, as they cannot fail to do in this case, that it comes from an intense enthusiasm for chess. Moreover, Mr. James (whose working hours are passed in the General Assembly Library) has the -pleasant faculty of giving a literary colour to every subject he touches. Shakespeare, Milton, Gray, Burns, and Dickens jostle in his note's with Lasker, Tchigorin and Blackburne. Even Holy Writ is drawn upon for the greater illumination of gambits and fianchettos. When White does sometiling imprudent with a knight, the annotator 'exclaims, "This strange beast appears to have 'eaten" 1 of the insane root that takes the reason prisoner.'" In the midst of an unscientific game, he sighs Scripturally, "Wee is me that I sojourn in Alechcch." And a little later tho unfortunate player "is now left 'as a night shelter in a melon patch, as a besieged city.'" Altogether, Mr. James's booklet, with its informative introduction, its details of the play, and it<; erudite analytical notes, forms a worthy memento of the Congress. , it should be made an annual feature.