It  was  well  to  issue  a  new  edition  of  an  almost  forgotten  book,  A  Week
in  a  French  Country  House,  if  only  to  revive  for  this  generation  the
memory  of  its  beautHul  and  gifted  author,  Adelaide  Kemble — whose  seven
years  of  golden  success  as  prima  donna  in  grand  opera  were  followed  by
almost  forty  more  as  loyal  wife  of  an  English  gentleman  (Mr.  Sartoris),  as
gracious  hostess,  and  as  dear  and  trusted  friend  of  such  men  as  Browning,
L/iszt  and  Lord  Leighton.  The  present  book  has  a  good  portrait,  two  illus-
trations by  Lord  Leigh  ton,  and  a  charming  preface  by  Mrs.  Richmond
Ritchie.    The  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York.    $1.50.
Whoever  believes  that  the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood  is  a  sort  of  pirate's
cave,  the  habitual  abiding-place  of  greed  and  lust  and  falsehood,  will
count  Zola's  final  novel  Truth,  well  named.  But  I  have  never  met  a  man
who  knew  even  one  priest  well  who  did  believe  it.  The  story  is  powerful,
if  somewhat  tediously  drawn  out.  But  it  seems  to  gr^ve  proof,  if  any  were
needed,  that  the  flavor  of  foulness  was  good  in  Zola's  mouth  for  its  own
sake.  The  plot  follows  very  closely  in  most  respects  the  Dreyfus  case,  but
the  crime  on  which  it  is  based  is  one  that  may  not  be  named.  John  Lane,
New  York.    $1.50.
