Evening star., 1914-08-01
BOOK REVIEWS.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A HAPPY
WOMAN. New York: Moffat, Yard
Il Co.
PAVING read this remarkable
book, one Is Immediately
possessed Of the desire to know
woman of such complete
common sense as this one is,
Of such sturdy personality. such modest
aims, such capacity for labor, such genius
for happiness. She refuses to yield her
name, however. so one must find her as
he is able In attempting to sum the
power and charm of this story the reader
finds that it Is. after all, only pure and
unalloyed gospel of work. and that Its
tonic and wholesome character springs
straight from this potential fact. TO
preach this gospel in the nane OF hap
piness is the single aim Of this self
revelation. When the book has gone by.
hut not In the reading Of It, one realizes
that there is nothing said about love in
this woman's story, except about a pretty
general love for men. women. children.
dogs. horses. the face of the land. the
march of the seasons. But the universal
story Of man and woman love does not
appear here. Nor Is there any attitude
against 1t. 1t Is much as IL the woman
were too busy for this particular quest
And here, too. there are no pensive remt-
niscences about family background. ex-
cept many illusions to truly blessed
mother. There are no expressions OF
yearning for a career no voicing OF
dreams for the future. In place of these
usual things, there is most exhilarating
record of daily work-here and there.
with an absolutely frank avowal Of the
ups and downs Of various source and
size that stood. often like lions. in the
way. This woman would treat lion
IL
would more than likely be ashamed to
be anything but a lamb in behavior. One
has the very exciting experience OF see
ing this woman grow day by day into
through the rigid training Of herself to
the top notch of the demands upon her.
The great and crying need of women
today is to get to work In the spartan
spirit of this happy woman" And the
corollary of this need Is an equally urgent
one-that they run around less. and talk
less. and aspire less, in vague incoherent
ways: that they curb their social con-
sciences more until efficiency and useful
ness have time to catch up with these
scattered and effervescing social aims.
One of the immediate needs Of theirs is
to study this gospel of happiness through
real work.
THE THINGS HE WROTE TO HER.
BY Richard Wightman. New York:
The Century Company.
Like children. we are always calling for
the story. but the story is sketched SO
lightly in "The Things He Wrote to Her.
that one is able to gather only. and that
vaguely. that this is an Indian summer
romance. as well as the passion Of two
that are separated by the most substan- |
tial and insurmountable Of barriers And
in face of the pure beauty and delfcacy
of these letters one feels like an intrusive |,
boor to seek even this frail support for
them. The fact is they seem SO genuine
that one has at the best feeling OF
doing something he ought not to do to
read them at all. They are, Of course, |
and TO be sure, clear Inventions. It must
b very good art to make mem appear
$" exactly like the outpourings Of real
lcter's heart. And there is something IN
1loir beauty that recalls both the spirit
.-l the body of Mrs Browning's son.
5 from the Portuguese-the sonnet
tat begins How do I love thee? Let
y count the ways" and then follows
tsat Incompatible counting. And here.
n. the last this lover says. Il love tne
So broad and strong; the soul Of you, the
whitest gem in any feshly setting .aho
so on in winged procession OF @ aaoaa
tons And once in while the le5.s.s
CLEAN with the grace OF that exquisite
love poem, "Marpessa-
LOFTS NORBERT, q Two-fold Ro.
nance. BY Vernon Lee. author OF
..Vanitas." etc. New York: John
Lane Company.
II takes very alert and adroit per-
son as well as a good story teller. 10
keep two stories going at the same time.
and particularly two that are separated
from each other in character ana ac-
tion by the barrier Of more than tnree
hundred years. The older story here Is
the main one. Over it the lighter one
moves like slender shadow on nne
grass. Louis Norbert de caritan. soldier
Of fortune is the hero of this seven
teenth century tale. His chivalrous De
votion to lovely lady. the oos.aSS hf., /
church and jealous father, lay the |
Dattern of this romance OF ancient P1sa;
History touches it lightly here ana ana
there and the great names or that
period give reality and circumstance 70
its movement. The old story Is brought
to light in the present by the Lady
Venetia and = young archeoiogist 1t
is the searching out and piecing to-
gether the romantic love story OF Louis
Norbert de Caritan and Artemisia del |
makes the second and later adventure
the twentieth century story that just
barely misses being a true romance.
THE CHARM OF THE ANTIQUE. By
Robert and Elizabeth shackleton.
authors of The Quest Of the Co
lonial" etc. illustrated. New
York: Hearsts International Ii
brary Company.
This is the very book for one to
Search and ponder II he finds special
pleasure in old things-old furniture.
old houses, old pewter and brasses. old
silver and glasses For there Is no
doubt that the Shackletons, Robert and
Elizabeth, having gone through the
toys of studying the antique. have put
the most and the best of their expert
ence into this volume. The practical
character of this book Is it's first at
traction. The writer's instruct readers
to know these old objects-to know
the good ones from those that are less
good and not good at ALTO know the
real from the imitation, the original
from the restored. They make clear
the standards by which proficiency in
this pursuit may be achieved. They
give common sense advice and direc-
tion about collecting. in great good ma
ture submitting their own experiences
and adventures. sometimes as warning.
but oftener example. And II one
is not a collector. not even a particular