The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-06-02
NEWS OF TIE BOOK WORLD

Mans Passion for Ancestral Acres and
Its Consequences Told In a Novel OF
More Than Ordinary Merit-A Book
Dealing with Life's Deep EmotIons-
Three Types OF love Affairs.
4 A passion for his acres, not a greed for
more and broader acres, but a deep-rootedI
love for the land on which he and his
ancestors had dWelt, passion amounting
to an obsession, was the undoing Of Rich
ard Winstone, the yeoman, in Charles
Kennett Burrows The Woman. The book
is one Of much more than ordinary power.
1t seems to us that the book comes near |
being one Of distinction, tho it has not
been heralded as such. It is not book |
Of stirring incidents woven into mys-
ferrous and exciting plot, but 1t is book |
which has to do with the tragedies Of the
soul, tho after the storms come peace, the
atmosphere of which pervades the closing
chapter, so that the book may be said to
end happily. It Is a book to teach one
that the things that really count in life
are intangible Influences and their results,
Intangible impressions upon the incor-
poreal man.
Richard Winstone's love of his ancestral
acres made him slave to the land and
ultimately ruined his mind. This is the
way the author puts this deep attach
ment almost at the outset:
1t was curious that tradition and the land, al
ways the land. moved him more than any init
mate human feeling; with one he had sympathy,
with the other merely intercourse.
Richard had a fair daughter Dorcas,
dutiful and good daughter, who "re-
spected her father and gave him SO much
affection as he would accept" He also
| had a cousin This cousin had sold Win
stone land, a crime In the eyes Of Rich
1 ard, and had gone off to Australia and
! there made fortune. Now he was re-
| turning, the purchaser of a large estate
| adjoining Richards farm. This, too, was
! a crime in Richards eyes. But the thing
| that brought a burning to his eyes which
! in another man might have eased itself in
4 tears, - was the fact that this cousin had
/ three hardy sons while he had none This
family Of David W1nstones is one that the
: reader feels a pleasure in knowing even
in the pages of book. The father and
the sons brought back from Australia
modern ideas of farming, and one Of the
sons, Ford, put them into practical oper-
alton on the newly purchased estate. This
was another serious offense in the eyes OF
Richard and his enmity burned the
stronger, and it burned not only against
the cousins, but against their friends, the
: Hamers, wealthy neighbors, in whose
family were an interesting son and daugh-
ter.
T. The David Winstone family out O.
. large heartedness recognized the difficult
: situation of Dorcas and sought to hell
her, but aid was hard to give and Dor
:, cas- burden was borne largely alone ant
s. uncomplainingly. Ford one day advanced
; this bit Of sound philosophy:
"I'm not fit to preach to any one. But II
! just like to say that If you endure patentl.
you'll have your reward That's a poor word
, tho-reward. l mean that you'll come thr
: better than you expected. wouldn't talk lik
this If didn't know.
OF course with two fair daughters Q
It families and several sons there was love
It making. One Of the distant Winston
It cousins and Eustace Eve regret the name
p Eamer loved Dorcas, and another Of tn
It Winstones loved Dolly Hamer and tn
3, confessioneof this lover Of Dolly, Steve, !
e one Of the most natural things we hav
l. seen in novel for several days (and tha
d means something, for, to a reviewer day
e are as months to the desultory reader).
Steve was discussing with Dolly tn
N questions whether he should go wit
Sc Eustace tosthe continent, Eustace's healt
a necessitating a change Of scene.
~ 'Dont you want to go?' she asked.
,r t'sNo, I don't. - said Steve. 4 -&agsss:y
T. 'tWhy don't you?'' she asked. He drew Ii
"a tie nearer to her and felt all at once that ths
III slight movement had broken down an invisib
- barrier between them The confidence he ha
- lacked welled up in him cool and strong.
because don't want to be away from you
he answered. "Unless--'' her hand was res
I'd ing the parapet; his closed on it unhesita
le ingly -.
~ love goes with me-
~. 'My loye?" 1t was as tho the giving Of
10 could never be enough.
Contrasted with Dorcas' experience
- this Of Dolly's was as the surface of
a. sun f1ecked pool to the Wind-swept sea.
al Still another contrast might be draw
"a a. A servant in Richards household, Liz
- by name, was to be married. She volu
teered to defer the wedding on Dorcas a
: count. To this Dorcas objected:
, mo, no; you shall marry in May, Lzz
a. Amos might change his mind'
ay "Let un,'' said Lizzie, with perfect unc'
ia Germ.
"But don't you care for himT'
'Not more IN vor Ted LIZARD"
,st "Do you mean asked Dorcas, "that yo
~ as soon marry Ted as Amos?''
- ''Vor sure l 'ould."
Nc To Lizzie man was man and a m
,ra was what she was after.
To It may seem from this review that tn
he is overmuch lovemaking in the book. F
If there has to be much Of sunshine as a
No for the darker scenes in which Richs
lso rules and, you know, love is the sunsh
OIL of novels.
RS, We said the novel came near being {
ars Of distinction. We believe it does becal
re- it is a wildly natural picture Of hun
ay, life as it Is, that is, of human beings
swayed by the deeper emotions.
The Uneasy Chair