It is astonishing, in retrospect, how superficial one's contact With
places turns out to be. or rather how altogether different from the contacts made -by another. Certainly- Miss Woods' account in The Other Chateau Country (John Lane, 18s.) of some summers spent in following the course of the Dordogne and visiting its Chateaux is an eye-opener to this reviewer, who spent some months one summer covering the same ground, armed with local guides, Guide Bleu and l'Baedeker (not that they help you much when you are off-the beaten track). Much reading, research and enthusiasm must, therefore, have gone to the making of this book, which should certainly accompany anyone about to visit this part of France. It is a country very different from the Loire, with much more " cachet," some astounding Chateaux, marvellous scenery and first-rate food and drink almost everywhere, which cannot be said of the North. Nor is it a show place in the same sense, and the inhabitants do not appear to be existing on sufferance among wealthy week-ending Parisians and their villas. The reader who, as a result of reading this book, finds 'himself—when times are better—in the Dordogne, will have reason for being grateful to Miss 'Woods.
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