The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-05
A BUNCH OF BOOKS

Mothers and Fathers" by Juliet Will bor Tompkins. (Baker & Taylor Co.,, l New York; $150.
 l Everybody has been blackberrying. No-
 body has forgotten the fascination of the picking; here a berry black, long ana lucious; there another round and glisten- I ing sweet Every berry delicious, ripe with the work of suns and rains, and each one
 with special flavor of its own
 1 Just such a sense of fascination awaits the readers of Juliet Wilbor Tompkins' volume of short stories, Mothers and Fa- thers" Every story in the book is de- lghtful, rich with the ripening work Of suns and showers, humanity's smiles ana
 tears, every story with special flavor Of | Its own.
 | In the first story, the one that gives the l title to the book, is a tang of bitterness, | the taste of tears. It is one of those ex- perimental pieces of literature so tempt I ing to try, SO hard to do--successfully. A mother and father wake and rise in the night, they speak of their son, they palpi- | tate with fear, they cry out with relief at the sound of his foot on the stair-and story is told.
 1 "Weatherby's Mother lets the world | into the already open secret of how hard l it goes with poet to be mothered, or TOT that matter granjmothered, or sistered,
 or in any way a-kinned. poet prefers
 to be family free as well as fancy free.
 Be sure such condition of things would I be better for the family--also.
 'sElses Return: A return of a daugh- ter which takes place just in time to pre-
 vent Elsie's mother from doing her hair l in becoming pompadour and receiving the addresses of a remarkably interesting old gentleman. Interesting to his contem- poraries, but prosy bore to Elsie and | her wise generation. Cannot science ma some way to gently teach the old and the mjddle-aged that they are always ludi- crous except when usefuD to the rising generation? The desire of the aged for sympathetic understanding from the young is as much an unnecessary sur vival as is the vermiform appendix and is as apt to bring about complications ana rain. That desire for blessed reapproach-' ment should be removed from the system, call in the surgeon, cut it out
 .'The Real Tragedy accentuates the same trying truth. Imogen, who has never given the response that her kindly l and to her youthful wisdom) foolish fa- | ther has so ardently striven to win, has 1 at last the saving grace to repent of her l hardness; a callosity due less to her na- | ture than to her state of callow age. lm- ogen, with eyes anointed for the seeing, cried at the end of the tragedy: There 1 Is just one thing that will comfort me for his life. It Is to have children of my own, who will grow up and begin to bear with me. and listen to me with obvious patience, and shrink at my ways, and give me little forced smiles when l want ed a laugh, and take turns sitting With me so that I don't feel neglected. all the l time holding the door between us shut
 tight-then shall be getting 1t back and I'll be glad!
 'sThe House to Themselves is every bit
 cheery and sweet clear through. l How Constance Dorothea" became
 sHermione Small" is a merry tale. | In ..The Lady From California" the
 star boarder in New York house res
 cues a homesck mother from the domina- ltion of handsome, sulky" daughter and l a winter in Gotham apartment house
 and sends her back to her own garden,
 close by the Golden Gate.
 "The Rule of the Magnificent shows | how a butler may conquer a new-made
 maenate of a father and. send young
 loves course speeding smoothly on.
 My Mothers Diary" suggests that filtration is not the invention of the youth of today. My Mother had her
 full share of alluring coquetry
 Altogether a very promising corner in
 'sMothers and Fathers" May Juliet Will
 Dor Tompkins manipulate it in such a
 manner as to make the stock in affection
 for parents rise to more appreciable value.
 "When Half Gods Co., by Helen Reim-
 ensnyder Martin. Century Co.,, New l York. s1.50.
 | MT J. Berg Esenwein, the acknowl-
 edged best authority in short story struc-
 ture, warns the young writer against
 writing his novel In form of letters. A
 good rule, maybe, this But book like
 this. .sWhen Half Gods Co., is the ex- ception that may be claimed to prove the
 rule. only it Is well to remember that
 Mrs. Martin is no new hand at book making, her "Tillie: A Mennonite Maid and sThe Crossways' having already won
 for her wide following.
 1 A book in letter form when good, and | why waste time at all upon one that is
 not good? makes most enticing reading
 Letter form gives, and reasonably, just l the right touch of intimacy between the
 writer and the dear reader.' 1 Letter form gives just the needed ex- cuse for pleasant detail. Just the proper gratulatory sense of being behind the scenes-a very fattering sensation for I the reader to experience. Just the ex- cellent escape from necessity of dialogue that is often suited and insincere.
 Of all these advantages of the, letter
 form Mrs. Martin has taken hold and l used well.
 This novelette appeared some months ago in The Smart Set. Those who then sensed it to be. one of the most fetching of modern minor novels are glad tQ. well
 come 1t in permanent form.
 l The letters purport to be from Edith, lvife of handsome. ioveable. irresponsible. musical genius, Robert They arc sup