2 DECEMBER 1899, Page 10

The Princess of Hearts, by Sheila E. Braine (Blackie and

Son, Os.), is an unusually successful specimen of the modern fairy.

story. It is a little self-conscious, so to speak. The genuine fairy-story never attempts a joke or makes an allusion, but is as grave as the gravest of historians. That is a mood that cannot be now hoped for; Miss Braine does what is next best. Her jokes are good and her allusions clever, and the story runs on smoothly and pleasantly, not a little helped by Miss Woodward's illustra- tions.