Daughters of Nijo. By Onoto Watanna. (Macmillan and Co. 6s.)—Whether
this Japanese story is or is not true to life the present writer has no means of judging. It is, however, full of wistful charm,—though the charm is so elusive that it is im- possible to say in what it lies. Sado-ko, the heroine, is a delight- ful creation ; and no one will be inclined to quarrel with the difficulty he may find in believing the details of the story. Why, as everything ends happily and well, the book should leave an impression of gentle melancholy, it is difficult to say. The romantic side of Japan seems to Western eyes always to be "as sad as night," though one cannot tell in what the sadness con- sists. The reader will be sorry to close the book, and for some time afterwards will be haunted in fancy by the musical Japanese farewell, " Sayonara."
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