By Strange Paths by Sallie Lee Bell, published by Zondervan Publishing House.

As Elise Demarest is returning from a mission of mercy to a dying woman, she is suddenly taken captive by two men who have been lurking in the shadows of the buildings along the narrow streets of old Paris. She is forced into a room where she meets several other young women, most of whom are of the scum of night life in Paris. They remain in the room until morning, when they are marched on board a waiting ship. After they have set sail, the young women learn that they are being m across the Atlantic to the colony New Orleans, there to become the wives of settlers at that place. Many of the girls are only too happy at the prospect of a home of their own, no matter who the husband might be. This would surely be an improvement over the night life of Paris. But to Elise this is a terrible test. She knows that marriage is a sacred union, not something to be played with. She realizes that she cannot marry someone who is not a believer.

When New Orleans is finally reached, the young women are all ‘married off’; that is, except Elise. Two young men claim rights to her, and a bitter rivalry springs up. Trickery, scheming and murder enter in to lead the story to its finish.

This book may, and very likely will, prove very interesting to many of our readers. It may also be read as a pastime, being far more desirable than many books of worldly fiction being read by some of our young people. However, we must state that there is little spiritual value in a book of this type. As is true in so many books of Christian fiction today, the religious life as presented in the book is of a very artificial nature. Elise is pictured as an almost sinless creature, as many others after a sudden conversion brought about by the ever present witnessing of Elise. We must bear in mind that we as Christian young people must always seek for wholesome literature, not for reading material with a certain empty and saltless flavor to it.