The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-09-04
"I'hc Woman Grant Presents
Attractive Study Of a Pres
ent-Day Problem.
NEW BOOK 3 Y BA Z; |: !: !: i

Second Volume Of the History
OF the Trails of Lewis and
ClarkBook Notes. i
THE NoMAN.s ERRANT, being some
chapters from the Wonder Book OF
& Barbara. the Commuters Wife, by.
the author of People of the Whirl-
pool, with illustrations by Will CRETE
8s Published by the Macmillan Conn.
#s pany, New York. 376 pages.
* or the entire seasons output OF books,
none has given us greater enjoyment. or.
4 more thorough refrcshment than this new
q chapter in the life of the charming Bar
Sbara, already we'll known TO most,
q readers n ii Il ss 55
# The style is fresh and inv'gorating, and
y the subjec, matter, concerned in chief
f with one of the most vital OF American,
3 latter-day problems, Is of sustained in 3
tercst from cover to cover. It Is with
Ia sigh that at the close one dsmlsses
- the little company whose actions, good
and bad form the basis OF the story, and
point the moral OF the whole. Such de-
$lightful companionship is rare and not
to be relinqulshed without due regret.
&s1Ne3would even endorse the Woman Err
KS rant herself if the others would stay,
FOR (and here is the balm that tempers
the story we have no fear of her while
Barbara and Sukcy and Lavinia are near
gby.B
Barbara is q living. breathing creature.
and has become III ncr way q farce in
American fiction. We saw her first in:
s2:rhe Garden OF Commuters Wife"
then in ..rhe People Of the WHIRLPOOL
and row s in her onderg ID ookii that
n contributes the best to the present vol
Il ume She is the same delightful Bar
aSbara. 8unchanGing except for the maturity
that sets so well upon her, and that ems
;abes her to- look calmly f and without,
&cxcitementSupon this new problem that.
8invades her orderly existence Es in the.
Shape. s NJ fh
Ivory steele, the woman Grant. The
Latter is the modern fectype' of the
Knight errant of the middle ages, the
* embodiment of the new school Of thought
that ssubordinatess the woman 9donlestics}
and that fires and fosters In the mind
&of the young woman Of day, the. spark
Sof a$nlistaken ambition that is to lead
them into the market place., the lecture
94hall and elsewhere where they may prove:
their t'independence"3f and "emancipa-i
sltion."35With$ her the Commuters Wife
has nothing in common. Barbara Is the
finest type Of the American woman, and
sunites in herself the qualities that are
ND NO n1, G 11a
s8of class and the author with Won
G7derfui skill and cleverncss has placed
them side by side and drawn the lives
#of each with perfect clearness. Here Is.
sthe3 question and here is the answer.
SIN this double presence the problem fritz
tiers away to nothing. for though the fwo-
man Grant Is no %mythe itamust be plain
that she will not and cannot be- a per-
Samancncy. In Barbara we9recognize that
(which we shall ever have and cherish;
# the other nothing.
s us impossible to convey in a line the
lasting impression that a thorough appre-s
S4ciaton Of the book leaves upon the mind.
@Of Ivory Steele the woman Grant, the;
q author says: Early in life she had as
she thought, gagged her force, then de-.
#liberately contracting her heart In It's
natural development. compelled 1t to take
second place to head and thus challenging
mature, set forth on her errantry. "She
& is private secretary to a professional man
OF high position in New York, and keeps
88postponing her marriage until she shall
have gained experience and proved
her.in > Put each step up the
ladder makes her crave he next; and ma
8ture forcby repulsed, enters an lnsus-
a pected loophole and throws wide tho
doors. Young as she Is. and therefore
free, We begin to see he effect Of her
s..emancipation.a Her parents simple,
kindly and loving II they had been allow
led to love, she holds at arms length.
The picture Is pathetically real at times
as ttlr$ instance when. almost heart brok-
s@enfCHer his daughters persistence In the
course she has marked out for herself
her aged mother. who had been blink
N ing back tears. suddenly dropped to the
"A arms OF the chair In which his wife sat
and resting his head upon her shoulder
~ cried like a child" The finished product,
IA the woman-errant no longer young and
free. but the custodian of household, Is
81 seen in Mrs. Lavanta Blair. and here
the picture is even more sternly real Hero
is the Ivory Steele grown old, the woman
& Grant In the home. where there Is no
place for her. or rather the home that Is
q no home because of the woman-errant in
8 1t.
mo. they are not legally separated or
on exactly bad terms, simply their ideas
ARE different--she Hayanta Bair) goes
IL ilcf oWil Way, tSeeitlb nm NleTt HuSDa1u)
4 once a year or So and he prefers to re-
main behind with Karl for company.
Karl? Oh, forgot to tell you; he is only
M the son. their only child. Until lie was
& two years old. mother used to say, he was
as beautiful as II statue. Then ne took
. cold or something and his limbs beca me
&Gparalyzed. so that he has been a cripple
n ever since. At first his mother could not
believe the truth and took him to every
& physician of repute here and in Europe.
hut 1t was useless Then she grew hard
81 and strange and fought God and has been
Il angry with Him ever since; for II was the
III first time In her life she had been thwart.
&t9 ed. and she couldn't bear to look AT Karl;
II SO he, poor fellow. turned TO his father
Il and the two are never apart but live In