The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-11-06
NEW BOOKS

5t x NJ Wv D\JAvAAD
DOUBLE HARNESS. BY Anthony
Hope. Mcclure, Phillips 4 Co.. New
York. For sale BY the Bell Book and
Stationery Company.
For those who are familiar with Mr..
Hopes style, and were charmed with the
dashlng romance cilaracterizing his ear
lier booksla the perusal of Double Har-s
ness" will be marked with feeling Of
surprise. III
The book is tllohghtfuliy and vigorous
" written. 1t hinges on social questions
which are ut prcscnt Occupying tho
minds OF tho clergy and the laity alike
and 1t is a mcrciless exposition Of many
social evils and Of what Mr.. Hope con-
ceives to BIO their causes. @s.
1t brings UP In the mind of he reader
the old question as to whether fiction
Is tho proper medium for the ventila-
Lion OF problems that arc harassng the
world Tho painfulness and the hopeless
ness of them, the complications they
bring about and the misery that fol-
lows in thor train, can scarcely be les
sened or cured by being dwclt on In
novel.
At tho same time 1t cannot be denied
that in Double Hari,css" Mr.. Hope
{ has sustained his reputation as an au-
thor Of talent nnd versatility Tho title
of his book means, of course, tho dou-&
bic harness Of matrlmony. He has taken
from lifo in high-clnss English society
"a dozen or more types. to Illustrate the
reasons why people find tholr double
harness SO difficult and 50 CALLING; why
human mature as q rule Is seldom adj
y.justed to 1t without resentment and strug-l
GLE. .g3
Mr.. Hope hls certainly succeeded In
one especial point. Flo has portrayed
men and women in his book; he has
not idealized life; OH tho contrary, lie
has not spared It's rolles and failures
Its weaknesses and Its selfshness.
The one instance given by him Of love
that survives tho test OF dsillusion,
separation, and time, as that OF "a sim
ple-hearted old English servant-wonnan
who spends the bost years of her life In
awaiting tho return OF her husband from
prison, and the few that arc LETT hep. In
comforting him, when no has again
found the refuge Of a his home.
Iii showing tho lack OF harmony and
beautySin English society: home life, Mr. s
II ope has not hestated to use very plain
terms when he traces the luck to It's
source Sin is called sin. FACTORING with
duty principle. and honor Is not ex-
& tenuated. SgiaI ;s
The minds dwells with sense Of pain
on the ( truths which nrc told. end yet
tho realization comes back that they are
truths without exaggeratlon pictures
drawn from tho many phases OF unhap-
Bpy married life crowdng the world In.
which one lives, moves aid has ones
Being, MN
sTIIn TANNING OF BETTY. BY Cally
Ryiand. Lee snd Shepard Boston. For
a.
Company. s
Tho Tanning Of Betty iS not novel.
It answers IL much more imperative need
in the books that have come out this
autumn, for It is q girls book. Not
u ichild's book; Its pathos, It's humor, Its
fun, and philosophy are not OF the kind
that belong to tho bethumbed series
adjoining the shelves of nursery libra
ries. It Is, to BIO exact III classification,
school girls book. full OF the mu ti-
nous spirit Of revolt which dwells In
tho heart otsall 1.-THE, vigorous, and ma
%tural school girls iD AN oaimes and coun-$
tries. tx
Thore Is another many-times-told story
OF a little girl who was once found
crying bitterly On being asked the rea-
son, OF her grief sho answered that she
could not resist giving way to tears.
when she looked forward to long life
and realized that she must do the same
things In tho way Of getting up, wash
Ing her fuce, combing her hair, and cat
Ing her breakfast every day she should
live.
The child's trouble was real In Its
way. It was tho opposition Of her ma
lture to the eternal samcness of rou-
tine, and Miss Ryland's Betty Is
1t. 1{,1N. Hos. a 10y n
is In freedom from conventional re-
straints and in the JOY OF out-of-door
living. ia
Such disposition as belongs to her
type can be directed and controlled only
by the power Of love and the gentle
influence OF tender sympathy
The great INERT OF Miss rRyland's
Characterization Hes In Betty's human
lily. IN the fact that girls OF her type
may be found in many Virginia homes
to-day When they read "rhe Tanning
OF Betty they will recognize and love
the little tomboy to whom they are
drawn, by the recognition Of kindred
traits and impulses.
There Is II class of people to whom the
loneliness OF childhood does not appeal
as 1t should. 1.-THE Tanning Of Betty"
seems horribly like the idea OF break
ing a butterfly on wheel. In the
process, the chlld-Iature loses llc ~ !Snt-g
ness and elasticity which belong with It's
spontaneity and Its unfailing gayety.
Miss Ryland shows plainly that compre-
hension and gentleness should encom-
pass q girl in her home life, ii she
is to develop along the lines that VIII
fulfill the promise OF her immaturity.
The book should have a special flavor
for Virginia girls and for Virginia Wo-
men, who. as a rule, are devoted to what
girls read, because the scene OF the
story, as far MS home life and school HE
are concerned, belong SO essentially and
happly to the Old Dominion and TO the
regime of tho Virginia grandmother and
"ole nanny"
.THIl ArAsQuERADER. BY Katherine
Cecil Thurston. Harper g. Brothers,
New York, $3.50.