The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-11-07
FICTION ON MANY
THEMES AND MORE
SERIOUS VOLUMES
H. c. Wells on the Discomfort Of Woman A Memory
of Feminine Discomfort Generation Ago.
May Sinclairs Gloomy Tale-New Fiction by the
Wiamsons, l. A. R. Wylie and Others.
First Contingent Of the Holiday Seasons Beautiful
Books-Latest War Literature.

Some phases Of the woman question
arc involved in the discussion OF marital
dls.ensons which IL. G. Wells calls THE
wife OF Sir Isaac Hartman" (Macmil-
lans). but the author shows keener In
terest in the treatment of the employees
OF large establishments by their en-
ployers. His woman is a sort of abstrac-
tion: her husband with all his faults is
far more human. She has drlftcd along
without much thinking through girl
hood. marriage and motherhood, allow
ing things To be done for her till she
gets the idea that she wants to do
something In this world and to act for
herself. Her stmulants are a working
girl who tells her things and a literary
widower with whom she talks matters
over. He has lost a perfectly svmpa-
thetio wife with the same tastes as his
own and provides most of the humor
through his misconception OF the
heroine's motives. He cannot under
stand how she should he enthusiastic
for reforms without nourishing a sent-
mental passion for himself.
The husband is n sclf-made man. an
example and an apostle Of efficiency
He has established and Is carrying on
vast chain of model lunch rooms, sup
piled with a much advertised breed.
This enables the author to show MP tho
iniquity OF these establishments. the
relentless way IN which they crash small
competitors, the manner In which they
sweat and otherwise maltreat their help
and so on His wife begins to question
fis methods and soon discovers that she
IS his slave. lie Is fuSsy. tyrannical.
Jealous and determined to keen her in
subsection. She discovers that she has
no bank account, no money at her own
disposal no authority over the servants;
that he attends to everything. when
she rebels and insists on visiting people
VINO are engaged in the various woman
movements he puts his foot down. She
runs away. finds that the women will
not live up TO their principles and has
to smash a window as a militant suf-
fraeette In order to obtain shelter IN a
prison cell.
Tho scandal brings the husband to
terms, but he cannot play fair. She
wants 10 build homes for his employees
and he agrees because he thinks Il will
advertise his business. She expects to
manage them. but he thwarts her and
turns them into something like penal
institutions. He falls sick and begins
20 hate his wife he Is Jealous Of the
literary man and determined that she
shall not have her own way. She
nurses him, but keeps growing moro
and more Independent mentally and APP
parently more cmancipatcd in her ideas.
When he dies he leaves a malicious will
preventing her from marrying unless
she sacrifices her new ideals, but as she
IS rather seNless abstraction that does
not trouble her, for she has had all she
wants OF a husbands control. That is
an idea which the literary man APP
parently cannot grasp. So far as we
can make out Mr.. Wells, while ne OBJ
tects to the tyranny to which women
are subjected I'm marriage is not greatly
impressed with their many reform
movements. He cares more for the OPP
preston Of labor by capital