The morning journal-courier., 1908-04-18

SANTA LUCIA. By Mary Austin. Pub
 Iished by Harper X Bros, New York @ Sl,50,
 f A novel which enlIsts the interest at
 he start with its quiet, rostful, folIci- l3ous picture of home life and scenery at lft. Lucia. The scene of the story and Enc book grows in interest to the climax .At the end where JulIa's love dream Boes out In darkness and Serena's be- sfomes only memory <ut above all Inc book Is q sane, wise and satisfying lEommentary on some, yea, many, mod sfrn marriages.
 M Domestic happiness, like all other Binds of happiness, is relative, There kss type of man who when he gets his aNife gets his desire, and writes finished s2n his romance, and there is Q type of tNoman, married or unmarried, In 4Fhom romance, for better or worse, 4Nill not die. In the case of both for eV- .lry dream foregone there is compen- f4ation and for every violation penal #3y, In Santa Lucia, a pretentlous new SEIown near San Francisco with a nar- How society and an aspiring college, Se- z ena and Evan Lindlcy were married, #and so were Julia anu Antrim Stairs.
 ferena married Lindley when she was
 nst out of college, with only pleasant z ffection in her love, and So the story
 nds them; Llndley, the average, satis- led man, faithful and prosalc, devoted f p Serena, with no imagination and no
 Conception of Serenas; Serena, with
 Ter girl-nature ripe for the poetry of
 leal first love, which has not come
 nd does not come, even in the end of
 hc story This Is Screna's little trage- Ky, which Is, of course, no tragedy at
 H. except in the world of dreams. 'f uia Stairs is different beautiful hallow, with no intellectual resources, he marries the young professor of hi- logy, nattered by his preference and
 elleving in his advancing success as or social stepping-stone. Julia Stairs SIpo, has missed romantic marriage, but { lcking Serena's stamina, she drifts sH lto renewed intimacy with an old lov. ta r, With beautiful art each woman'S Y estlny Is worked out; devotion to hus- K and and bables-a rose kissed ant z ung to the night, as symbol of tho ssfirlish dreams-that is Serenas; the z. ctlon of the story's close Is concerned Fifth Jula's, She tries 10 find courage ttb tell her husband she Is weary of him sstnd so to free herself and marry thu /. her man; then, frustrated by Antrim '.Ebid Serena, takes the shortest way out .& Very touching is poor Julias awak .sstfling and her disappointment at hnali tsxir the second time losing the man O opsScr own heart with whom she woult trfNve found herself matcd-losing hin lS fter she had started with lim to leav' HIT husband behind and seek q new .j. Nc in foreign land, a scandalous pro ee cding which fell through at a critica 'tt oment. A charming character Is VII S Y. hm, the good old doctors plump ss lucy. loving daughter, wno Is first in foduced to the reader with her cur
 slpcrs in her stubborn hair and wh, [zf2'ts happily mated in due time to X&lung doctor, but not until a disap
 tpinte lover a member of the old doe IHsssr's household, who has secretly wor 66 ippod William" for ycars-from he VI fy childhood-nearly causes a trage Al when thrown suddenly insane a do c discovery that his love dream wa s6Nnr- The good old doctor, big In bod hd bg-hearted- 30 years his ol s; rragc has conveyed him on calls {
 sick and suffcrng-nnds himseI .ssfa5lope up at last by a runabout acci 6Snt and obliged to call in the youn {Sfctor assistant; all of which occur M very critical period in William M reer
 1 santa Lucia" Is for the married an AE11 hmafried, friendly word to the wis d otherwise, and an uncommonl
 pod story and of unusual literary ez llenee