The Washington herald., 1913-10-05
BY A, ID, JACOBSON.

REFRACTORY HUSBANDS: By Mary Stewart
Cutting. Garden City, n. I.-Doubleday' FAgs
4 Co. Price, ST.
Mrs Cutting Is at her best IN ner
gossipy stories of domestic and family
life. This she has once more proved oy
the latest of her productions, entitled
Refractory Husbands" Her intimate
knowledge Of mems foibles and women
hearts and charming little oy-plays
makes the short stories contained In the
book amusing and in manner even
instructive. The authoress has gone
herself one better in this work in COM
parison with her Little Stories Of Mar
ried Life" Little stories of Courtship,"
The Suburban Whirl," and her other
delightful short stories.
The best recommendation of "Refrac-
tory Husbands is that these collections
tell of and recall domestic scenes and
little adventures most of us have had.
Husbands, as a rule, are stubborn, and
Mrs. Cutting opposes the notion that
wives seem to be impressed with the
factor that they let on that they are,
which amounts to the same thing in the
end-that with the idea that man is
born to rule ingrained in them, with the
alteration of mothers and sisters to spoil
them, they emerge quite naturally domi-
neering creatures" So she has written
a book of husbands of different DISPOSE
tons, genial or stern, good looking or
plain. but all refractory.
Despite its humorous tone-or per-
haps on account OF it-wives will find
in the book sound advice Cby inference
or negative suggestion for treatment
of husbands. Near wives" will find in
IL mirrored the fate they soon may
have to face. and "would-be" wives will
soon discover the warning II contains.
The pages are filled with amusing
chronicles of persons they meet every
day. Who, for instance, does not count
among his or her relatives an Aunt
Mary as she is depicted in the first
story. when Aunt Mary Came" Is
she not the living image and persOnifi-
cation of this one or that one of our
aunts? And Mrs. Cutting surely has
the knack of portraying the species TO
perfection. Were the stories of the
length of the usual novel, were the
plots distinctive and elaborate, the
character portraiture would approach
that of Charles Dickens.
FOOL AND HIS MONEY: By George Ban
McCutcheUn- New YOrk-Dodd, Mead Co.
In the most successful of Mr.. Nc
Cutcheon's novels there is always a
background of towers and castles. In
his latest story may be found the
castle in a foreign land. the stalwart
American with money, and the beauti-
full and distressed maid. The story has
an ample sUfficienCy of romantic mate
rial, for the American buys-the old
Austrian castle. and only discovers
later that il already has an occupant
in the distressed Countess TarnOwsy,
who has stolen her child from the
father 10 whom the divorce court had
granted Rosemary well-Calculated
source OF revenue from a millionaire
American grandfather. John Bellamay
Smart the American author, has a ro-
mantle situation forced uDon him. Add
20 these clements a number of atroC-
iOus servants, who determine that the
countess and Mr.. Smart shall fall in
love. and you have the entire story.
Nevertheless there is nothing of the
bizarre and unreal which has spoiled
before the romantic situations created
by Mr.. MCCutcheon.
1t is undeniabIy true that no author
who attempts to produce novels with
regularity can expect to give them
originality CT individuality of plot or
character Mr.. McCutcheon possesses
u vivid imagination. and is able to con-
Irive numerous unique and interesting
situations from which to involve or