The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-12-05
Among the Books


erhe Doctor. Chrfstmns Eve
BY James Lane Allen. OF Kentucky.
The Macmillan Company. OF New York,
publishers
which "'rhe Bride OF the Mistletoe"
comes FIRST. has Just been published
and VIII be most nportant feature
Az a story It is complete in itself.
though. the same characters appear IN
II as in It's predecessor. The difference
between the I've, two books ., lies primarily
young life, engrafted upon an older
generation seeking into the why's and
the wherefores OF all other surround.
ing and enveloping life, questioning all
segas e &c se the rsh e Is
analyst. judge and critic, is more
broadly presented more absolutely
dwelt upon.
The BOOK makes the distinct inn
preston ,.,ss upon t ths mind 20 OF being
sionate love for Kentucky soil and
what 1t has bred, for the Kentucky
woods and sthe song birds they shell
ter. for Kcntucky-me and women and
what they represent to humanity.
The doctor Of the book is a Ken
lucky country doctor who, In his
choice of a profession, realizes the I'M
fulfilled idealism of his Uncle, the man
that brings him up. Probably the pasess
note and make the finest appeal are
those which describe. the doctor IN his
boyhood. lying on the lawn, harf-lis-
tening, half-reading, while his uncle
and the rector OF the parish discuss
between parent and child and wisdom
or unwisdom In the exercise OF parental
influence The genial philosophy Of
the uncle, half-humorous and wholly
rector's narrower theories, is wholly
vindicated by the thorough confidence
existing between the older man and
the lad OF his affections.
Guided insensibly by. nature that
is too wise to attempt t, pit open control.
profession. Through the years of his
novitiate he Is hedsed about by the
Same fostering guardiansip as that
which forms his earliest years and
ideas. 1t is In his young manhood,
of his life overtakes him through mis-
takes Of his own. The tragedy In.
volving separation from his wife In his
own household. and shamed conscious
ness before the elear.eyed awakenins
Eve with which the story begins, when
he passes the tale OF his years in re-
view before him.
to another household for their Christ
mas Eve. boy and girl transformed by
the art of the author into types that
exhibit clearly the difference between
themselves and the generation that
has gone before them. The coming Of
these two Is awaited by another two,
likewise boy and girl. likewise brother
and sister. The little love episode be-
tween one boy and girl. TRANSPORTING
in the library of the house visited, is
vigil around the Christmas tree, with
the sound OF the doctors sleigh bells
breaking in upon the midnight hour.
and drawing a mystic circle around
listening ears within, then dying away
into silence amid the snow and the
cold clearness without.
The end of Christmas Eve and Christ
| mas brings the end of many other
things. dropping between old friends
and childish friends the CT, curtain en-, o.
bearing away Into land that is not
| Inhabited" the boy lover who has
found the lips, and not the cheek. OF
his little love'on that same Christmas
Eve The story is afterward broken
not finished. at a crucial point in the
| life OF the doctor. when there seems
to be a half promise Of happiness stu
! to come by atonernent for misdoins
The conclusion OF the "nOle lHatteI
! has probably been reserved for the
| third book, which Will render the
| trilogY complete
| In The Doctors Christmas Eve
James Lane Allen has probed some OF
| the most vital factors that affect the
! welfare and the happiness OF the hu.
| mainly of the future. His poets ar,
/ is shown in every line that the book
contains. and his power Of rendering
even the smallest detail of his book
| pictures a matter of importance IN the
/ production of the whole. is here ap'
| parent to every discriminating reader
| Less novel than Christmas idyl
THE Doctors Christmas Eve" seems ii
| some intangible way to bear stron1
/ analogy to aftermath
"The Eagles Feather
BY Emily Post. Published by Dodd
| Mead & Company. New York. and fo'
] sale by the Bell Book and S:atlonef,
! Company Price. $3.50.
ces n'ff ap pooP q Th ' Titie Market" ha
/ taken for the theme of her new move
/ a story that is by no means new. Ye
! she handles her subject with so SURE
! and delicate a touch that even tn,
J most blase novel reader cannot fail Il
| give to her treatment of the stor.
| the homage OF close attention and alb
! sorbed interest.
| The events of the story take plac,
| in Paris. where all things arc possible
| The keynote Is struck on the first page