Joan Chittister: Her Journey from Certainty to Faith by Tom Roberts (Orbis/Alban Books, £18.99). Author Tom Roberts is editor-at-large for the US National Catholic Reporter. Joan Chittister is a well-known Benedictine nun, public speaker and warrior for feminist issues. The book does much to explain her radical views about the role of Catholic women, stemming from a troubled childhood, refuge within the Benedictine order and the destabilising effect of Vatican II on religious life. Even those who disagree with Chittister’s interpretation of the feminine role will recognise an honest doubter, searching for ways to reinvigorate the merciful face of the Church Making All Things New by Ilia Delio (Orbis/Alban, £16.99). Subtitled “Catholicity, Cosmology, Consciousness”, the author has daringly brought together our knowledge of the natural world and astronomy. Drawing particularly on the writings of Teilhard de Chardin, she raises many searching questions, asking: “Can religion inspire an evolution towards unity? Can we reimagine Christian life in an evolving universe?” Delio, a visiting professor at Georgetown University, concludes that we need to surrender control “and wildly fling ourselves into the arms of divine Love”. God is Watching You by Dominic Johnson (OUP, £20). Subtitled, “How the Fear of God Makes Us Human”, Johnson, an evolutionary biologist, looks at how the fear of supernatural punishment and reward has shaped culture. Do we act better towards our fellow humans if we believe in an all-powerful and omniscient God? Johnson says yes – but he also notes that this fear appears in all societies, religious or pagan, and posits that it is the belief in a supernatural justice that allows us to co-operate and to form large, complex societies. This is a thought-provoking read. Spy Out the Land by Jeremy Duns (Simon and Schuster, £7.99). Paul Dark, ex-MI5 spy turned traitor for the Russians, has been missing, presumed dead, for several years. But he is alive and in hiding, living in Sweden, married with a son. When his wife and child are kidnapped, Dark comes out of hiding and enters the twisted web of 1970s African politics. Set during the 1975 crisis in Rhodesia, with many real players such as Ian Smith as characters, Spy Out the Land is an intelligent, page-turning thriller. Duns plunges his characters into the last days of minority rule and the reshaping of a continent. Sacred and Profane Love by Edmond Rostand (The Genge Press, £12). These two plays, The Woman of Samaria and The Last Night of Don Juan centre on the dramatist’s favourite theme: the transforming power of love – best demonstrated in his justly famous Cyrano de Bergerac. For Rostand, his art concerned “lessons for the soul”, inspired by his own creative and romantic genius – “romantic” in its true, idealistic sense. His theme is that love can redeem fallen human beings, if they open themselves to it rather than succumbing to egotistic arrogance and vanity. These new translations are a worthwhile enterprise.