New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-07-17

The Per1Ls Of BeLated and Premature
Natr1mOny.

THE E9-,,l MOTHER OF PAULINE. BY L Parry
1Foscott- Emo pp. ~. =. Appleton & Co.
! THE COST. BY David Graham Phillips With
St3teen en- Illustrations by Harrison Fisher. Emo
PIP ~ Indianapolis Bobbs Merrill Company
LOVE AMONG THE RUINS BY Warwick
0eePlng. With four illustrations BY W Beuda
-Zno' PIP 20 The Macmillan Company.
With sin and its consequences as his tonic
and with a minute dissection Of character and
motives as his method, Mr.. Truscott has written
a novel Of almost oppressive sonbreness in parts
yet hghtened with much charm of description
and some really delightful bits of natural com
edy. The story being one Of character rather
than Of action loses something Of its force nv
the overelaborated machinery the author en-
ploys TO involve the mother and the father Of
baby Pauline in the particular situation from
which he starts 10 work out his thesis This is
mat the punishment of any violation of the
social law is inevitable and that any attempt
10 avoid It's consequences effectively VIII react
with redoubled severity subjectively on the
guilty. The concrete application of this natural
law as developed in the narrative is the irapos-
slbllty Of happiness coming to two people.
though loving each other devotedy while re-
iuslHg, for fear of social ostracism, to acknowl-
edge their little daughter, born out of wedlock
With all Mr.. Truscotts ingenious constructive
analysis in the first of the three books" into
which his novel is divided it is difficult for the
reader TO accept either the initial surrender of
the heroine or the departure OF the man TO
whom she is engaged without at least a secret
marriage Granting these TWO assumptions the
story Is logically and sympatheucally evolved
Yet the very care with which the author seeks
10 establish his premise leads almost inevitably
to the conclusion that the punishment Is rather
for the neglect TO cover up the sin than for the
sin Itself The author himself seems to be
aware Of this danger, and to wish to counteract
IL in his last paragraph, but Il is situations not
words that count; and. Ike a deathbed re-
pentance his warning comes too late to have
any effect save, perhaps. on the one who
makes it
David Graham Phillips deserves credit for his
attempts to interpret American life In his novels
even II he does not always succeed In his
desire to produce startling effects he too often
violates probability, and so creates an impress
sion Of unreaity that involves the more care
fully accurate portions OF his work In The
Cost We have number of studies Of widely
contrasting types. who move through the story
with no very well correlated purpose: nor is it
very definitely indicated what It Is that costs
or who pays it It might refer to two or three
Of the characters, and is perhaps intended to
have a certain catholicity Of application The
heroine pays in much Unhappiness for secret
marriage with a man whom she loves and
hopes to save" She does not save him, and
finds too late that there is another man more
worthy of her love. Hopeless passion nearly
wrecks his life; and the husband. having lost
the confidence and affection of his wife, devotes
himself to trust building through shady fnan-
cial and political methods. He pays for his
marital infdelity with loss Of wealth and repu-
tation. and after master stroke of stock job
bling (the best bit Of descriptive writing IN the
book with life itself. He thus frees his wife, to
wed the patiently waiting right man" after all
MI Phillips gives US interesting pictures of life
at a Middle West coeducational college, OF a
Doodle" campaign IN the same State-Indiana-
and a really absorbing one OF a SICK mans sue
cessruI effort TO corner the market by telephone
and stock ticker. Unfortunately tho author
spoils most Of bis good work by an almost boy
ish Lack Of the sense Of proportion Apparently
seeking to make bis characters more interesting