Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-03-06

deeply religious sentiments which mark
her works. From all accounts she was .
being especially talented as a pianist. and
it was Dr.. Mackay's ambition to a her
become a successful musician.
But when Miss Corelli was 20 she wrote
"A Romance Of Two Worlds" and thus
marked out her own career. b sent her
first novel to a big London publishing
house. and II the opinions Of the readers
employed in that establishment had been
light. But their reports condemned 1t 50
unanimously and enthusiastically hat the
self and decided to bring it out. The crit
les treated 1t with contemptuous silence.
but the reading public raved over 1t. ex-
hausted edition after edition. and still con-
The big receipts did the business. and.
critics to the contrary. the same Of Miss
Corelf as an authoress was firmly estab-
nshed from that moment. Her later books
and She writes about one every year
have been equally successful.
1 have said that Miss Corelli Is an in
,nr bnt c young e woman .S9na l., She Is interest
as young as she was once-9omewhere be-
tween 90 and IS. I should Judge. But all
the women writer's who go out to Kensing-
her speak Of her as young and beautiful,
gush over her Dresden china complex
lon" her "blue gray eyes and her won
derful personality.
Miss Corellis attitude toward the vord
In general IS unique. Evidently she takes
herself with much seriousness: but most
successful writer's do that Toward the
poor critic, she fosters q very lively hatred
She never tires Of abusing them. and they
books.
exhibit her at drawing rooms and quiz her
about her fads. she affects to scorn, She
does go out occasionally, but takes her
cynicism along with her. But for people
in the abstract nnd af thA
cially novel buying folks, she entertafus
a kindly regard, which Is very nice Of her,
Miss Corell's favorite pose seems 10 b
that of a literary recIuse. 1t Is plain that
she thinks you and I and a lot of other
people take a deep interest In tho way she
ives and works: and she is willing to In
dulge us by doing both In a manner n
original as she can. For Instance, she
SeiiS US that while she was writing "Barab-
bas" she knelt down in her study and
pen. Surely this is a departure in liter
airy methods or else other authors have
not been 50 frank She has also said that
she makes the first draft Of her Stories In
lead pencil and an absolute frenzy Of COM
position. Then she rewrites them calmly
and In Ink. She is not fond Of the theater.
because modern actors are crude and self
Perhaps Miss Coreli enjoys her own sue
cess fully as much as anything else. Al
couple OF years ago the queen read one Of
hch dio tltH tcicSEdpueO nSE IOQO
don bookseller as follows: "'Send completes
set Of Miss Corelli', works. v. r."
This MESSAGE Miss Coreln carries con-
stantly In a little channels bag hung around
her neck. Yet she Indignantly denies that
she Is patronized by the royal family.
They know better" she Is fond Of say
ing.
AS the apostle of romantic mysticism
Miss Corelli holds a place of her own In
the literary world The weird psycholoE-
ical theories which she introduces are NOT
exactly new. but most of her readers are
u~nacquainted with them. Some Of the In
cidents which happen to her characters are
Of the kind that makes your flesh creep.
George Augustus Sala said that he read
The Vendetta with a wet cloth around
his head and his feet in a tub of ice water.
This Is the story in which a man Is en-
tombed while supposedly dead, but comes
to life. finds his friend making love to his
fafthless wife and takes his revenge by
shutting her alive in the same tomb. II in
not altogether a cheerful yarn, but there
is a thrill in every page and most novel
readers like thrills. you know. So Miss
CorelH Is well within her rights when she
shifts at the critics and takes herself seri.
ouSly.