The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-19

"The Flight to Eden," by Harrison
 Rhodes; Henry Holt & Co.
 Lord Basil Forester" was young Englishman who had the fatal gift of beauty and fascination which we read about in books and never see in real life. Forester was so good looking, so very fascinating that no women, whoever or wherever she might be, was safe from his charms Just why the English govern ment did not take hand in the protec- ton of it's women, this book does not say At any rate Forester went around
 seeking whom he might devour" and he was usually very hungry and always was well fed Upon his favorite diet, namely. adulation Forester was married to very charming girl in London. He was the younger son and all that sort of thing, but 'younger sons usually get great deal out of life in England, judging by the books about their escapades. Forester
 as before mentioned, was married, and he loved his wife. This fact is insisted upon in MT Rhodes book. But you see that Forester was so fascinating, he was sure ly not to blame if other women fell in love with and pursued very often catch ing him. In one of his love scrapes in which, of course his wife did not figure,
 but a chorus girl did, the suffering wife discovers Forresters perfidy. She is
 thunderstruck, of course. She knew too
 well Forrester's heaven-born gift of fas-
 cination, so she can not blame him, oh no.
 But she can remove herself without the
 living pale and does so, by Killing herself
 the night of her discovery, not before she
 leaves a letter to her mother informing
 the latter how awful that fascinating
 Basil was and no doubt would continue as
 long as he lived. Basils mother-in-law,
 however, decided to put stop to the
 Inc hi hir1a 1iair
 notice that if he simply must charm wo-
 men, then he must do it outside of Eng land. She gave him ten days to get out
 of the country. If he did not go then she
 would ruin him in London "sassiety."
 When anyone threatens to ruin Lon
 doner in ''sassety" the last word has
 been said. Forester saw that there was
 nothing else to do but to take a fresh
 run-and-start in green fields and pas
 lures new. Surely he could not stay in London and be ''ruined.' Perish the thought. So Forester, after a long com
 muning with himself after dinner one night, when he wondered to himself why God had made him so fascinating (poor chapD why he had been persecuted by Providence so that he could not look at a woman without that woman falling desperately in love with hinl-he packed his trunk for 'The Flight to Eden," not
 the Eden of the Bible, but Eden, Florida, about 30 years ago, before Flagler made a beautiful region out of the Florida l east coast. Eden is still on the map. The | reader can see 1t way down near Miami. | As stated, it is still on the map, even | Forresters fascinating charms were | powerless to demolish a Florida village. | But like the proverbial villain which "still | pursued her" Forresters charm of fas- cination remained ever with him. At | Eden was curious family, at the head 1 of which was funny old man who had | two daughters. Strange as it may seem | to readers of this review, only one of | those beautiful, but uncouth women, fell ! victim to Basil Forester. But this one | kept him busy all right, and he married | her, giving up opportunities for advance l ment at home when he was sent for and | so on As a story of the awful blight that some fascinating men cast about | them The Flight to Eden" Is a winner. | The fact that there are no such men in
 the world, never have been, or never