The Washington times., 1913-08-26
Here's a Book

The Woman Thou Gavest Me-" by
Hall Caine. published by the ]. &.
Lippincott Company. of Philadelphia.
| Hall Gaines new book, the first from
his pen after four years, was published
in London OH the first of the month
and has made quite a sea of discus
sion. even as the publishers predicted.
! On the twenty-fifth of this month it
viii be published in this country and
American readers will have the oppor-
tun:ty Of forming their own opinions.
| The Woman Thou Gavest Me" is
the story of Mary O'NeilI. a young
! English girl married out of a convent
| to 4 profiigate lord. knowing nothing
at all OF life. and forced to choose be-
| tween living with him or of laying her
self liable to accommodation by her
church. which had been mother and
father 10 her, should she abide by
decision and decree of divorce. To
stamp her with even more a right to
be an individual she falls in love with
Martin COnT,d. an Arctice explorer and
in linn firds her true mate. She has
been true enough to her teachings to
never be the wife, except in name, to
the creature whom she did not choose
and who was forced on her through her
ignorance, and the pressure which her
father and the church brought to bear
who would recognize her under any
conditions and who is as civilized and
true as Is she, as eminently personally
clean and decent?
II she does. and bears him a child,
Is she only fit to associate with the
lowest dregs of humanity and he forced
TO take the same chance in heartless
London with her child as does the alley
cat with littler of unwanted kittens?
Hall Caine merely tells the story, and
does not attempt to solve the problem
for poor Mary O'Neill. Her frail body
was too wasted and worn with child
bearing under outrageous circumstances
to permit of trailing her through a
few more chapters with the rigOurs of
censorship which her actions would
have undoubtedly brought on her.
Read Mary O'Neills story.
Hers is the tale of many. We are
trying for universal peace; we have
made capital punishment a mere mat
ter of one or two seconds, and yet We
nunish and crush to death by neglect
and the most intOlerablc suffering every
Mary O'Neill who comes along. Worst
of all we inflict the most devastating
of all punishments-brain torture. All
because she will not follow the law she
did not know about. did not make. and
which read to fit the cases OF all hu-
man things bIr her own.
prominent review has claimed that
this new book is not up to the authors
standard and that il cannot compare with
THE Christian" etc. for the character
Of Mary O'Neill is too Overdrawn;
that she is too good. wise. and beauti-
full. and entirely too etherIIl; that his
trea tment of the divorce question itself
is weak. as he does not solve ii.
He does not try to solve the question.
az stated above; and as for the char
acter OF Mary O'Neill-
Hall Gaines English readers would
be impressed by no finely balanced,
zane values. Mary ONeiu's Overdrawn
heauty of character pictures all the
NOR strongly her sufferinEs.
Sharp contrasts and drastic measures
are required 10 convince or stir up the
stubborn British mind. They take their
changes hard.
Therefore militant suffraGism.