The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-31
ThEBOoK,SHELF
Fly THE BIBLIopHuB

1 he rises from the ground; summer show
 CTS, fragrant garden and drea eams1tnis | is the background Of Sally Salt, the latest novel written by Mrs. Wilson 1 Woodrow Tn it nature is seen in her pets garb and the reader inconsistency ab- sorbs the charm of his surroundings. Mrs | woodrow has the faculty of painting word 1 pictures in glowing colors. Her atmos- | phere Is true, and through the settings she provides her characters move natural- | ly, blending with perfect symmetry into l the ensemble.
 Wholly unconventional. Sally Salt is the kind of novel the fiction reader will find suitable 10 stir up the imagination and to add thrill to nerves tired of the monotonv of sameness. Although If would
 seem that life had been fine-combed in an effort to find characters that are rue and at the same time different, possibility does not seem to have been entirely ex- hausted. Mrs. Woodrow has found such characters and in Sally Salt, Anthony Streatham, the Hurds and others, she his discovered a wealth of material which her genius has transformed into real people, who think and act and speak In fashion which is at once normal and interesting. Naturally, Sally Salt. the heroine, pre- dominates the story, but In way wnicn adds to. rather than detracts from the people with whom she come In contact. This red haired, high strung. clean think-
 ing woman, lives. She Is scintillating with brightness, sunshine and humor. She IS altruistic and her altruism is inspired by the highest motives which spring from heart overhowing with human Kindness. She never poses as a martyr in the cause of humanity and has no patience With those who do. And Sally Salt also loves,
 but hers is no school girl love, no TO-
 mantle longing for Prince Charming. IL
 is the love of woman fully matured, wno
 knows life in all its joys and sorrows
 This is the kind of love that means some
 thing and a story built on foundation
 of this sort is bound to be enduring.
 But Sally salt" is more than a charac-
 ter sketch. It Is a vastly entertaining
 story with fully developed plot and by
 plots, which fit together to form close
 ly woven whole. The incidents related
 are vital to the theme and they are ao-
 sorbing in their intensity. There is plenty
 of action, plenty of life and just enough
 mystery to prevent the attentlon lfoih
 tagging for a moment.
 In the idyllic, dreaming Anthony Streat-
 ham, we have hero worthy of the hero
 inc There Is much in common between
 these two people and yet they are ns
 widely separated the poles. Sally. on
 the one hand. shrewdly practical. manag-
 ing her farms with all the keenness of man; and Anthony, Vlslonary WaHuefet,
 whose soul is full of poetry and who obeys no law other than his conscience and inl-
 pulse. As they sit together on the steps in the moonlight, discussing the problems of life as they see them, their differences only serve to intensity their love and to make them seem all the nearer to eacn other
 Of Anthony but little is known. He is silent concerning himself, and beyond the fact that he is brilliant far above the ordinary. that he Is filled with the wan derust and that every summer he comes to help Sally with the harvest, his life Is wrapt in mystery. When suspicion arises and every indication points to the fact that he is nothing but a common criminal, it is no wonder that Sally should yield to the human impulse of doubt, and that this doubt should cause a gulf between them which only long series of incidents, many of them thrilling. can bridge.