The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-08-09

NEW BOOK BY
II WEI SHNAN
tl,T WHIT GOD AND MAnIMoN.


buck. is the last work of
the author. who was of Welsh ancestry.
and was the author also of Saint Mar
garrett" Sweetheart Gwen Miss
Grace of All Souls 1.-THE Little Wild
CIV" Tales From the Welsh Hills.
Meg of the Scarlet Foot" and THE
White Woman" Like some of these other
books. the present novel deals with Welsh
life, and affords many interesting
glimpses into a field as yet almost IN
explored by nOvelists. Allen Raine is
practically the only person who can
lay claim TO Welsh territory, at present.
and the lover of fiction Is likely to pro-
nounce Mr.. Tirebuck's work superior TO
"Mifanwy" and its successors. There is
less dialect and more blood and bones
in it,
The three principal characters in the
present book are Joy Provert, the hero
inc; Josiah, her Welsh lover. and the
Rev. Conner Deem. curate who is any
thing but heroic. being from first to last
under the curse Of Reuben. This wabbly
gentleman is waited like a shuttlecock
between Joy and Miss Abercromby Moore
all energetic spinster of his parish, and
NEST people will probably regard it as
fortunate for Joy that she escaped mar
rying so unstable and irresponsible an
individual. Yet it cannot be said that
her other lover. Josiah. known from his
qualities as village bard as "Ap Idris."
far more interesting.
The book is shrewdly written, however
and of interest not only because IL deals
with new and strange material. but be-
cause the style is capital II is worthy
the attention Of those interested in folk
lore because of its revelations of village
life in Wales and OF the position occu-
pied by such rural versemakers as Josiah.
The following quotation from the CONVEX
satIon Of some farmers about the bard
will illustrate this:
I remember telling him once freely
confessed farmer, when was counting
my little wife. how full OF wise talk she
was. "Ha, john" he said. your ears
are lined with love-" and looking at me
with those black eyes of his he said. as
II he meant it with all his heart:
Willy woman loves to talk;
Man, beguiled. then talks Of love:
She. rc-cooing like a dove,
Fastening him like hawk.
81 was cut-terribly cut-for. of
course. like everybody else. wanted 10
be able to repeat a good APP Idris. and
especially to my sweetheart. But how
could /? He knew my thought. hit me
on my shoulder. and laughed. saying.
Tell her in this way. John:
winsome woman loves to talk,
Man. beguiled, then talks Of love;
She, re-ccoing like dove,
Loves in silence as they walk.
After that, of course, could tell
both; and I've told them for the past
thirteen years
Full Of unstudied beauty. too, is the
scene at Josiah's deathbed, when the
peasants sing his own verses to speed
the passing soul. The pictures of Welsh
life are. in fact, wholly charming
The relations of Joy TO her lover, the
curate, are less satisfactory. One may
pity a heroine who falls in love with
villain, but there seems to be something
amiss with one who falls in love with e
fool. Moreover, in her conversation
with Miss Moore, Joy appears at a de-
cided disadvantage. 1t is hardly pos
sible 10 conceive of even the most IN
worldly girl as saying to another woman
the sort of things with which Joy greets
the surprised churchwoman: neither is
IL quite likely that any woman in full
possession of her senses should be so
guileless as Joy is in her relations with
the curate. OF the merits OF the book
the reader must, however. judge for
himself. II is certainly a new and en-
PERTAINING type of fiction. There is
memoir Of the author, by Hall Game
which adds much 10 the interest of the
volume. New York: d. Appleton &
Coz