New-York tribune., 1900-05-12
WORRIED ARCHANGEL. A
ROBERT GRANTS SATIRE ON AN AMEhl-
CAN SOCIAL TYPE.

I-NI,EANENED BREAD foy INopSiN
PIP iS1 Charles Scribners sons
Whom the heroine of a novel is married to the
,,on of ber choice on the eleventh page the eA-
nerienced reader knows that there IS trouoie
ahead He knows the modern romahcer aii
his indisposition to devote Wnoie DUN "
study of matrimonial bliss. MT GRANT uoe'
not disappoint The Selma "h'e u ms
first page is Mrs Lewis Babcock on the eieVeh'ii
aforesaid: she is divorced in time 10 pecoiAe
Mrs Wilbur Littleton on page one huhoreu
and FIVE. and. her second husband judiciousiy
diving she is presently rejoicing in new 'ite'
that bestowed upon her. with his heart ana
hand by the Hon. James .. Lyon THESE
metamorphoses are eloquent OF troupie' DuI
Mr. Grant is not so much concerned with
Selma's love stories he is with her slgni1l-
canoe as a social type. "Unleavened Bread is
at once novel and a satire. in which certain
kind of American woman is subjected 10 aiios'
cruel analysis.
Selma begins life poor school teacher IN
the West, unacquainted with any life save that
of small and obscure town. She Is very pref
ty but is given to wearing what the author
more than once describes the look of a wor-
ried archangel. 1t is an impressive look, ana
her first lover the unfortunate Babcock, being
simply a good natured, commonplace man en-
gagged in the varnsh trade is deceived by it
into adorng Selma as something of goddess
She is really a prig. But her sincerity keeps
her in a state of illusion similar to that into
which her husband falls, and her capacity not
only for looking the part of a sibyl, but for
acting up to it, in a measure, further deceives
Mr.. Littleton when his time comes. He, poor
man, suffers a rude awakening We rather
wonder at Littleton's infatuation. because he Is
portrayed as a man of brains and spiritual in
sight But the archangel look seems to have
bincy tp ico ma
gence bound to submit. ut suggested in
carnate conscentiousness. and seemed incom-
patible with human imperfection unworthy
ambitions" Here is where the author seizes
his chance. If his heroine with her priggish
can't her itch for domination in affairs con-
cernng which she is densely ignorant. her con-
ceit and her selfishness simply repeated the
characteristics of the New Woman of whom
we have heard so much, in fiction and out of it,
she would be hopeless bore. Mr.. Grant identi-
fies her, however with the good souls who
would shrink in horror from the appellation OF
New Woman; he represents her as noby un-
conscious of any idea! save that of lofty patriot
ism. dignifed womanhood and social content
ment. But with sly humor the author dis
closes beneath the patriotism a dogmatic belief
that all Americans must follow the example of
Selma; beneath the ideal of womanhood an in
corrigible desire to play any part rather than
the to which Selma is herself adapted; and
beneath the pleading for regenerated society
nothing more nor less than intense craving
for self-advancement in the best" circles.
The contrast between Sema's words and her
character IS profound. Mr.. Grant exploits it
with merciless industry. He leaves foible
untouched, secret unrevealed. At the end of
the book Selma, though still unconscious that
her life has been despotically egotistical and
ruthless is presented TO the reader with hu-
initiating line in her portrait missing; she is the
shallow. selfish woman in apotheosis. All her
life she girds at the ways Of fashionable peo-
pie and secretly hungers to be recognized as
one Of them. From beginning to end she fan
cies that she is helping her husband, when she
is only striving to him as a means toward
obtaining the fulflment of her desires
'Unleavened Bread" is unpleasant novel, for
the central figure in 1t is. in her worried arch
angel way. contemplate. But the book is in
teresting because 1t bears the mark of truth
Not only Selma, but the three men she sue
cessively marries, and the other types included
are all realized with force; they seem taken
bodily from actual life