New-York tribune., 1909-09-11
Another Norel Of Modern life by
Maurice He7rletf.

-7e su,ho- ~ the letters which iii much Of
tNe spsoe in "Open Country is the same JACK
senhouse who figured picturesquely In "Hah-
wzy House the novel published by MI he"ie''
a yesr ago. The new book, however IS not
.4ouei 10 the old one on the contrary, 1t covers
xn earlier period I'm the life Of the gentleman
wtxabond whose qualities of mind and heart
1tted him 20 achieve q brilliant destiny, but who
preferred 20 spend most Of his time planting
flowers in the wild places Of England. IL Is
therefore with a mildly curious sensation that
one turns the pages Of this book Illusion SUI
sers little, because, at the back Of the resoers
mind. there persists a sense Of Mr. Senhouses
having long ago been apprehended In MS
q,dddity" and dismissed 10 his appointed place.
Not without certain effort is IL possible to re-
rive interest in his proceedings and pick up lost
threads in his story. But at least Mr. Hewlett
makes the effort worth while framing an enter
tanning comedy ont Of his rather queeriy as
sorted materials.
II these materials seem somewhat heterogene-
Gus IL is because they are not drawn simply and
directly from one of those dramatic situations
which have hitherto been the authors main sup
mort as a ronnancer The truth is that his talent
hax suffered a change. When he was writ
snr his Little Novels OF Italy, or The Queens
QUAR- he was all for the experience of the
individual. moved by deep passion and ex-
Sitinzly at play with Circumstance. Since then
more inouisitive about modern life. and has, we
dare say been feeling the influence Of those
fdess which the so-called advanced" essRyists,
nozelists and playwrigfts have been liberating
For the rejuvenation of society. At one moment
IN this book you feel that he is q belated Will
ssm Morris. talking romantic socialism several
Ssys after the fair. At another you wonder If
ne has not been reading the books of Mr.. Wells
Mr.. Shaw and the rest. until he has been fired
in
own field. Then. again, he suggests that he is
simply trying 20 apply to the life Of to-day the
sdeal Of primitive emotion of which he has made
such good use in his stories Of the past. One
thing that is certain is that he is no longer con-
tent tell a vivid human story just for the
sske Of the story. He ranges himself with the
argumentative novelists. Senhouse is a propa-
gsndist and those letters Of his to which allu-
sion has already been made are fun Of plead
ings for mode of life which he believes would
cure half the ills Of mankind. The result is. I'm
some sort hybrid narrative. At frequent in
tervsls. when We would have the tale go on
and follow Sanchia Percival to a settlement Of
her sentimental adventures. we are asked TO
pause and listen to new gospel of life and con-
duct.
Mr. Hewlett IS too much the instructive writer
of fiction to stray into the path of that worst Of
all bores the bore with purpose. but he is not
yet sufficiently master of his vein to pre-
perfect balance fn his work. Halfway
House is a better book than this one chiefly
for the reason that the story in it is the authors
main concern and II is in itself Of much in
terest- It hangs together too. in the best tech
nical sense In the present instance Mr.. Hew-
lett does what is not common with him-he
strains the readers credulity. The climax rests
posture of affairs which is novel. to say the
least The prosperous middle class parents OF
his heroine are driven by temperament and by
all their social relations rigIdly TO abide by
the dictates of convention. When a handsome
young sTistocrat is introduced into their hoxse-
hold with nothing to indicate that he is not
bachelor, when he makes love 10 Sanchia and
wins her heart. and the existence Of an irppos-
sible wife Of his is then disclosed. Mr. and Mrs
Percival storlnily repel him. But he has only
10 come and overawe them with a little proud
Yet self-pitying talk for them to give him once
more an intimate footing in their family blindly
permitting him 10 work Sanchia up TO the point
of reckless revolt against their domestic prin-
Ciples. The Percivals are quite explosive when
they at last surprise the true position of the
lovers. and the reader is inclined cynicalv to
ask what in the world else they expected Rut
his next question-and il is the more important
or the two-is addressed 20 Mr.. Hewlett Does
he really expect US 10 believe that A British
merchant like Percival and a matron like his
wife could ever, for the fraction of a second
themselves
IN the matter of Sancha's indiscretion? He
might retort with chapter and verse; gained by
actual observation but such proof could only
provoke the comment that in this book at anv
rate, the parental faulty he would illustrate is
not made in the smallest degree credible. San
chia's romance is vitalzed enough 10 hold orr
attention but in his management of il and in
the development of his comedy at large the
author has unquestionaby allowed his socfo-
logical fervor 70 react only too heavily upon his
art. Besuled through we may be, We are never
fheless thrown back upon Senhouse and his
lpreachments 10 the heroine
This wandering philosopher has all Of Mr.
HeWlett's culture at his finger tips and his let
tiers are prodigiously clever They make very
amusing reading and their piauant blending of
rhetorical brilliance with an ideal of simplicit,
produces. nomentsrily al least, a certain fresh
ness OF effect. One attends not unsyrnpatheti-
cally 10 the eloquence Of a man who lives close
% mother earth. soorning the ways Of the town
and has his literary illusions as pat as a dandi-
acal man Of letters would like his 10 he Al
most we may believe in Mr. Senhouse But IN
be absolutely convincing he would have 10 he
perhaps not less loquacious bur at all event.
less glib. Il said too much and talked like 2
prig,' he confesses TO Sanchia, in reporting an
argument in which he had been engaged. and
We fear that he spoke more truly than he knew
an that sentence. Moreover il is not merely
the literary" texture of his letters that gives
as pause. II is in the substance Of these epis-
Ties that he makes the most damaging revela-
uons. He harps too often on the reasons why
he turned his back upon civilization and a
wealthy father, choosing poverty and the open
air for his portion. His poverty is too pictu-
yesque an affair by half for a gypsy who
40 Ill.