The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-03-09
.Adnnn.,. Orchard.

"Aununrs Orchard.
BY Sarah Grand ID. Appleton s.
Company, Of New York. s1.46 net
American people first paid their trib-
ute OF admiration to Madame Grand
during the SOS OF the nineteenth cen-
along with THE story of an African
Farm by Olive Schreiner. was q
much talked of book
Madame Grand came to America and
TO Richmond during an American
tour. gave reading from her works
at tho Academy of Music and after
wards met number of Richmond
people very pleasantly ut a reception
in her honor at Woman's CLUB. AS an
advanced thinker, the English author
tcss, tall and handsome, but reserved
and soft-roiced, was somewhat of q
surprise. Her manner of style In
writing was not reflected in her per-
sonality, which was serious and digni-
fed, not humorous. The unending
amusement afforded by book ac-
quaintance with the Heavenly Twins"
seemed contradictcd by look into
Madame Grand's face, 10 which the
smile came seldom, but was very
sweet when i. came.
'Adnam's Orchard is evidently the
work of a maturcr mind than The
Heavenly Twins That was full OF
ing the period OF its appearance. seemed
daring ana unhcard or. The change
OF conditions now removes all f:':c-
ton. "Adnam's Orchard" IS quite in
accord with the pulse bat NJ advanced
thought aud its expression.
The hero of the novel. Adnam Pratt.
through his maternal heredity. from
Count Adnam Aubon Strellctzcn and
by virtue of his paternity as the sen
OF Emery Pratt. of prltt's Place, Dc
vonshire. England, is 4 fine specimen
of the English Tcoman class, vitalizcd
by a strain which endowed him with
unexpected and unusual refinement in
appearance and speech. The Pratt
home where the family had lived
since the days OF Henry VII; that Of
lIllcry Banks. small tenant farmer:
the Pointz estate, owned by Squire
Appleton Polntz: the rectory, rhe
abode of the BlatchfoTds. all form
parts of a composite community OF
which the dominant influence OF Cas-
tlefield Sage where the Duke and
Duchess Of Brabant kindly folks &c
cording to their lights. hold sway.
Ainam Prat; is the son OF his mother,
who comes to England as govcrncss
to the Duchess of Brabant and, bav-
ing married Emery Pratt, becomes
mistress of his household and queen of
his affections .Aduam grows up de-
voted to intensive culture rs a means
or acquiring wealth. HES ia Their turns
over to him an orchard Of twelve
acres. and Adnam's experimental work
and success on it are spread on.
through the entire book. Tho con-
versations Adnam holds with his
mother and his devotion toward Etr
and his father revive lilial ideals ard
standards which the modern genera
ton takes slightly into account
There arc many threads OF interest
in the Intercourse between the sew
eral estates mentioned and their in
dwellers There is the clevcrest sort Of
charactcrization III the pan portral-
ture which brings to the reader no.
ticc Ursula Pratt, her stcpson, Scraph,
the Ryccroft daughters. tho Pointz
girls and their brother. tire squire and
his wife. Ella Banks, the laccmaker;
the Duke OF Brabant, his agent and
his agents daughter, Lena Iiealock.
who arc all sharply individualized by
Madame Grand's remarkable skill IN
Characterization.
The book las a grca; deal OF admit
able philosophy in it, nuca thought
and care having been expended on its
composition. In this respect it is
great contrast TO the crude attempts
by which the standards oe American
literature have been not,nv iowertd
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