The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-12-11
NOTES OF new BOOKS.
Attractive Productions of the Holiday Season--Sarah
Grand's "Beth Book"--A Collection OF Stories
by the Author of "Quo Vads"-"Marches and
Music --Fction, Biography, Travel and Poetry.

altogether saIlS ylns pc' SON iIoh Vh' uay
preceding her birth to her twenty-hfth
year or thereabouts is told by Sarah
Grand i'm The Beth Book" ID Apple
ton x Col
The story Is one of those works that Is
bound to be widely read and TO provoke
discussion. Indeed, one is likely to feel,
with the reading, that to provoke discus
sion was motive that tho author kept
pretty constantly in view as she wrote.
Without unfairness or unklndness, IL
may bo observed that there IL chip-on-
the shoulder air pretty much all through
the book Apart from this the book IL
highly unique prcduction-moy we guess
too, that IL is designedly novel Tor the
sake of noveltyY
Inc hook has no plot. 1t has neither
hero, heroine nor villain. it Is not "a PROD
lem" novel, although it touches on
great many Of the controversies OF life
and living and seemingly aims to settle
number of them. o. the other mana III
is as much different from the realistic
novel as from the romance. III Is u story
and "a study of "a character, biography as
much as ii It's subject was real person
instead of a fiction, though evidently
planty OF realities are in her and In her
| life It is "A book about Beth, is The
| Beth Book Nothing else figures in II
except as feeder" for tho development
! of her personal biographical story-soen-
| ery. incident. adventure, as the people,
| all are only introduced To snow tneir
effect on her.
Laying down the book on the compile
| tion of its nearly six Hundred pages, one
! may we'll be curious to understand what
has made IL SO vastly interesting-fOr In
| teresting IL surely H., often absorhingly
| so Perhaps this interest Ii very largely
due to AN Increasing desire, as the pages
are turned to discover how Beth Is go-
| ing 10 turn out coupled with fear, as
| further advance Ia made, that her DO
| grapher Is getting so deeply interested In
4 the detail OF her existence that the story
| will have TO be brought to an abrupt
| termination and Beth won't turn out at
| nll--but only be- shut oh-Just AS Mr..
| Barrie had TO bring sentimental Iommy
! up with "A round turn.
| Beth Caldwell, however, appears not to
have run away with Mrs Grand as Tommy
| did with MIR. Barrie. On the contrary,
| hor bioCrapher keeps Beth amazingly
| we'll in hand. though before the story Is
| closed the reader Exsy come TO feel that,
| after all, Mrs. Grand twisted her destiny
| somewhat to facilitate getting her OF her
\ hands And the reader is likely TO part
| with Beth with a regret not untinged by
| n sense of disappointment because so little
that was promised has borne tangible
\ fruit and so much that hos aroused Curl
| ositY has failed to matcrlaIlZe
| The childhood story OF Beth, and that
occupies quite ssSe-half of the volume Is
! doubtless the reflection OF thousands Of
| young lives ana in its telling is the very
| genius OF universally familiar truth. 1t
| is a delightful study of child under con-
| ditions far from unusual, and some or
| which in some degree may Doubtless be
| found i'm almost every domestic circle.
| The insight into the child mind Its
| sympathy with and grasp OF tho child
| nature, amount To genius, and mans as
| are these pages. detailed as Is the demon
| stration, the reader Is likely TO go with
| Beth out of them into young womanhood
| with longing for their continuance.
| We come to be very fond of the unusual
| but not improbable little character. We
| are pleased when she is happy and sympa-
| thize with her in her troubles. We like
her friends immensely and want to push
the people that bcther her out OF the way
beth is very real all through these pages
and can hardly fail to deeply interest the
reader OF her story in her future.
And it is not that we ever really weary
of her. to the end Of the book, SO much as
it is a growing doubt as we proceed that we
are likely to iind our curiosity misplaced
and our hope in her future. as something
unusual, shattered. And, indeec, this
seens TO be the case, and II the story be-
gins to fail in interest it is because Beth,
herself, does--for she Is the whole story.
We read many moro or less profound
reflections on many KIM OF matter, the
relations Of the sexes. good breeding,
ideals. literature, woman's emancipation.
religion, the Bible love, as pronounced 10y
vaIious people in the book or suggested
by the circumstances until we are vaguely
wondering what of all this is 10
finish Beth for us and complete her
career as often hinted and at times with
n seeming suggestion as To what 1t is 10
be like. one thing we feel sure Of as we
proceed and that is that we are not to
have n love story as are not TO have
mystery. IDd,ed, putting her views In the
mouth of Beth at point within
hundred pages Of the end of the
book, Mrs. Grand SAYS Of the love
story: 1T Is the stock In trade OF every
author, IA IL there were nothing of
interest. In the lives of men and women,
but their sexual relations
This sounds very fine. Beth herself has
married. a man whom shc had no idea Of
loving and never di love. She married
only TO please her mother. On tie whole,
the reader is not likely to like her any the
better for that or 10 admire her by this
youthful evidence OF her contempt later
expressed as GO novel writing OF the
sexual relations. Still n curious interest
n thus aroused In following n heroine
author who proposes Co write novel
without depending on any sexual rela-
tons for her interCst-"as IN thera were
nothing Of interest in the lives OF men
and women" but that forsooth.
IL Is accordingly in the nature Of
shock when, having finally accepted Beth
rs "a thoroughly unusual characterization
and her binRrapher as "a woman determ-
inod To interest people in her fiction with
out rcsorting To 40 thrilling n theme es
falling In loye-tne fnOnotoDy Of which
subject, Beth declares, by way ~ explain
alton for her biographer, We take iL pals
upon her and she lays such hooks down
with n groan on discovering In them tho
mainstay OF novel writing-it is rather
dlsconccrting we repeat. % discover Beth
finding relief from her unfortunate wife,
hood In exchanging glances with
knight OF noble mien' who chances TO
ride ny her window and who seems 10 be
instinctiyely attracted Co her ~ she Is 20
him, wheroupon in contemplating HIM
she finds much relief from her trials.
Nothing comes ~ this but another knight
turns mp and attracts her Ihev are
brought together through the not-unfamil-
lar device of a fever that lays the knight
a.