Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-05-26
"THE DESCENDANT"
"Thc Critics" Review of f-Prnise
from Sir Hubert.

7
This is a strong book, and like most
strong books. It is not continuously
agreeable. If you enjoy the sensation
of being out in a tornado. beaten and
buffeted and driven on by wind and rain,
then you will enjoy the maelstrom OF
emotions and experiences in which the
characters of this novel move and have
their being; but, if you like to be aware
subconsciously Of the snap Of the hearth
fire. the bubbling of the kettle, and the
purring of the kitten as you read, you
may be sure that it is not book Tor
you. 1t is "A study of The evolution of cha
racter in contact with life in some OF
it's bitterest aspects.
The hero, Michael Akershem, is the
Legitimate child Of "a william and
fool" as he characterizes the man OF
the world and the woman OF the nclds
to whom he owes bis existence. Inc
fact Of his birth is the controlling one
Of his life. Made an outcast IN MS
childhood in the primitive Virginia com
munity where he lives, he rebels against
the Injustice of IL. and he first hates
demned him to be a social suspect,
and then. BIZ an easy transference, hates
the society which outlaws him, and the
whole system under which We ind II
expedent TO live Going 10 New YORK,
he finds an outlet for the bitterness ana
the force that are his in writing for the
Inconoclast. a radical journal upon which
he finds employment by chance. The
hriliancy OF his perverted and un-
wholesome genius makes him valuable
TO the paper, to whose edltorshlp ne
succeeds at the age of 2G The years
which bring him success do nothing to-
ward diminishing his resentment against
society, and like most iconoclasls, he
attacks the social body for its adher-
ence to the things which he suffers from
not having. lie has the destructive
power of a live wire in the streets, and
glories I'm his own malevolence. He meets
and loves Rachel Gavin. a young artist
Of southern BIRTH and girl OF genius
who is too innocent to come TO any
good" I'm the words Of a humble friend.
Akershem has rallied against marriage
until IL would be a sacrifice of prin-
ciple" for him to marry. Rachers Bohe-
mianism like that of most young wo-
men who affect an extreme Independence,
plique-work upon the good fabric of
character inherited from a series of ex-
cellent grandmothers. She has had law
less ancestors, il Is true, but wo-
mans morals are inherited from her
mothers. not from her fathers. 1t is
to be doubted whether I'm real life
Rachel would have offered herself up on
the altar of Akershem's principles" but
in the book she does SC.
Michael develops and expands under
her devotion. and Is "lost in amaZement
at the state which men call happiness
and for which he had never been IN
need of n name" But not even love
can rid him of the defects of his quail
ties. A man OF any imagination would
have been able TO measure the cost of
her sacrifice TO Il woman Of Rachels
traditions i'm terms Of the suffering he
himself had endured as an outcast. but
except by the grace of God, of which
Akershem knows nothing, "A man Of his
powerful. egoistc type IS not an ina
ginative animal On general principles.
this IS just as well for the worlds work
Is not done by the delicately magma
tive. 4 lack of the quality, however,
must debar any individual from being
an intelligent lover. The time inevitably
comes when Akershem asks himself II
good woman would have loved him
as reckossly as Rachel has done, and
the approach Of that hour is FASTENED
by his acquaintance with a large-na-
tured wholesome woman of the serene
~ gracious kind. What attracts him
In her Michael does not know, but in
truth. IT is that she represents the best
domestic type of Anglo-Saxon woman
hood; and in spite of himself and every
prejudice he has ever cherished. the wo-
man who so nearly embodies tho race
ideal must affect him powerfully. Her
uncOnsciously eXerted influence serves 10
domesticate his lawless mind as nothing
else has ever done, but Rachel divines
his mental ENHANCEMENT from herself
and his work shows the influence of his
changed ideals. His development as a
man is his ruin as a partisan. and hastens
on the final tragedy Of his reversion 10
the type from which he sprang.
If Hall Game had written this novel
the world would have said that it was
one Of his most powerful stories and
much more coherent and artistic than
anything he had previously done
Whether the world will be prepared to
accord an equal measure OF appreciation
to an anonymous American author re-
mains To be seen. The writer Is evident
ly woman. This Is made manifest
not by any absence OF virilIty but by
the presence Of certain delicaces OF in
sight. such as no man could be expected
to exhibit The book is very brilliantly
written, but it is - testimony TO its en-
crossing human interest that the reader
can absorb page after page of shrewd
and epgrammatic observations ami hard
~ be- aware Of H. Such a book deserves
success-and this one. We believe. has
won IT,