11 MAY 1912, Page 27

Esther. By Agnes E. Jacomb. (William Heinemann. Os.)— This is

rather a disagreeable book, which concerns the fall of a perfectly virtuous woman owing to pique at her husband leaving her to become a missionary in Africa for the good of his soul. The story is not quite so convincing as the author would wish, and the reader will find it hard to believe that Esther would ever have behaved as she did. The missionary husband in the end sees the folly and vanity of having neglected his obvious duties for the supposed benefit of his soul. Ho forgives his wife, and a reasonable prospect of happiness seems to lie before the hero and heroine at the close of the story.