The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-08-18
THE BOOK TABLE.

Jonel Fortunat, A Roumanian Romance.
By Marco Brociner, and translated from
the German by Hettie E. Miller. Chicago:
Donohue. Henneberry l. Co..
The perecution of the Jew and the utter
adherence for persons of that nation in
foreign countries are wildly portrayed in
Jonel Fortunat. 1t Is a book containing
many strong points and not a few weak
ones. The steadfastness of purpose and
loyalty to his people Of the Jew Zilibi Psan-
tir. the itinerant peddler and musician;
the elopement of his beautiful sister with
Herr Demeter Fortunat and her untimely
death; the character of the Jews wild, I'M
petuous, and superbly beautiful daughter
Lea, who renounces her own religion to
marry a wealthy Christian whom she did
not love; the accomplishing life of Frau
line Florica, the step-daughter of Herr
Fortunat, who from childhood had been an
invalid; the Jew lawyer, sage and philoso-
pher Herr Pantasi T%schukee, who. though
misshapen and ugly. possesses intellectual
| qualities of a high degree and is sought
after by the rich and the poor, who fear
his scathing tongue and respect his super
ior abilities.
These characters stand out in bold relief,
throwing into the background of q phan-
tasmagoria of persons the weaker natures of
Herr Fortunat, his son Jonel, .Pia, Herr
Valsamaki, the husband Of Lea, and Father
C%onstantin, who can be forgiven for many
of his Inconsistencies on account of the
snallness of his income.
TIL scene of the sto5y is laid in the little
town of Banesti, in Roumania, not many
miles from the city of Bucharest. Herr
Deneter Fortunat, the owner of a large es-
tate in Banesti at the opening of the story,
ia leading a retired life at his manor, con.
tented in managing his estate and the edu-
cation of his son Jonel. The people know
him to be a widower, but who his wife was
is a mystery to them, he never having oocu-
pied the manor during her life. Jonel is
about fourteen years of age, a petted, head
strong boy. We are first introduced to him
in the graveyard close by the little church,
where q crowd Of gayly clad Jewish children
are playing among tho graves. He attempts to
drive out the children with his riding
whip, letting it fall with singing force on
the back of one of the boys, but he is ar
rested by a heavy blow upon his forehead
from a stone thrown by the little Jewess,
Lea. the black-eyed, curly-headed daughter
of Iilibi Psantir. Tn lives of these two
children are closely followed throughout
the book. Jonel, the son of a wealthy
lord, receives a liberal education at ono of
the finest colleges in Europe, dresses in
the height of fashion and is petted by all:
while Lea, the daughter of the poor Jewish
pedler is denied all that seems most de-
sirable to a beautiful and young maiden.
After much persuasion she is allowed by
her father to be sent to a seminary by a
rich Christian gentleman, whom she after
ward marries. Jonel's father marr1es
again, the woman ia extravagant and high
tempered and not at all in sympathy with
Jonel and his ambitions. The es-
tate at Bauesti becomes involved and
Jonel starts out to make his own
livlihood and with the hope of repairing his
fathers fortunes. Since the day he came
in contact with Lea in the graveyard a deep
affection has sprung up between the pair,
but Jonel, even to himself, will not ac-
knowledge his love for the Jewish maiden.
Little does he know that his W beautiful
mother was a Jewess and the sister of L.ea'i
father, the jew Iilibi. After leaving school
Lea is married to her patron and renounces
her fathers religion, although a married
woman her heart is still Jonel's. and with
out any hesitsncy she tells him that she
loves him. Jonel, becoming disheartened
at the turn of affairs in his fathers house
hold, longing to forget his love for Lea,
and to achieve for himself fame and for
tune, leaves his native town for the city of
Bucharest, where, through the introduction
of Herr Pantasi Tschukes, he mounts tho
ladder by rapid strides. He becomes
famed as a lawyer, orator, and the
composer of an opera. Here he meets
a friend of his %boyhood, a young lady by
the name of Pia. A warm sympathy springs
up between the two which afterwards
ripsns into love. At this point in the mar
rative Jonol displays some of tho weaker
sides of his nature, his leaving Pia at a
time when he knows her love is his, his
dependency and his seeming lack of anu
bition. causes the reader to look upon him
with disfavor. The tragic end of Leafs
life, the intense sorrow of her father over
the loss of his daughter, the reparation of
the fortunes of the house of Fortuuat, and
the reconciliation between Pia and Jonel
help to form the plot of a story not without
lQtereat IN tho randar