The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-12

and he learned to know men. Then came
his first big novel, The Day of Souls
No sooner had 1t made its appearance
than Mr.. Jaeksons future was assured,
his ability was recognized. Another
novel. My Brothers Keeper followed,
and the young author took another step
up the ladder of fame. His latest book
has just been published. It Is called
The Midanders, and through 1t Charles
Tenney Jackson takes his place among
the big men of American letters.
Despite it's title. The Midlanders might
stand for the whole country in its prob
lens and its characters. and yet the set
tings are markedly Individual. The
narrative envelops the Louisiana swamps
and bayous, the farming regions and
small towns of the Iowa reserve, with
the glamour of romance while the people
and their lives are almost sternly reals-
tic, and the politics are those of the pres
ent hour The plot is intricate. and a
hazardous situation Is handled with a
delicacy that works 1t out to triumph
ant conclusion. 1t would seem that the
author cannot be dull. that he iluminates
all that he touches. and his spontaneity.
the absence of any evident strain, can
only come from one who is thoroughly
imbued with the spirit of his subject.
What William Allen White has done
for Kansas, Mr.. Jackson had done for
Iowa. What Frank Norris did for the
social questions of a decade or more ago,
Charles Tenney Jackson does for those
of our present The Midlanders stands
for the insurgent, the suffragist, the pro-
gressive in politics, regardless of the
party with which they may be aligned.
1t shows the chasm between the stand
patters of the past, and the eager young
men who shall inherit the future. 1t is
universal In it's scope and strong in its
grasp.
But 1t must not be taken from this
that The Midlanders is merely a thesis
or thinly disguised political document.
II is a story, first and last, a powerful
story that will hold of its own accord
for the practical problems of which 1t
treats. Nor is 1t hammock fiction
destined to be gulped down hastily on
a summer afternoon, like high ball or
an ice cream soda. 1t is more powerful
than this. and will be enjoyed best IL
read leisurely in an easy chair by the
| firesde. 1t is the kind of book one
waits to discuss with someone else.
Its fantastic opening, with a situation
as strange and unusual as the imagina-
| ton could possibly conceive, is admirably
suited to whet the appetite of the reader.
| Two doddering old men, one laboring
under the strange delusion that a little
Cillu snail iedu the NdnuulsneO forces
of the south to victory, though the war
| has been closed chapter for 5 years;
the child. stolen from a New Orleans
orphanage TO fulfil the prophecy as
! leader. and a Cajun Indian woman,
engaged to act as nurse for the child
| who is girl although here quaint abb
ductor thought she was boy-such are
the characters to whom the reader is in
troduced in the first chapter.
| Some vivid Dictures are drawn Of ths
bayou land of southern Louisiana, and
then the scene shifts to small conven-
| tional town in Iowa. From this point
one is plunged into whirlpool of love
romance, politics and common sense
There is a riot of color, but it is so skill
| fully blended that the effect is beautiful
modest and harmonious. The girl
| Aur eliaA by name-grows to young wom-
| anhood She has a Harvard senior fol-
\ a lover, the scion of the best family In
town and a leader OF the artistocratic
younger set.