The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-13
THE AUCTION BLOCK. =

Il
Unlikely as it may seem that writer
whose name is most closely associated
with the romance OF the far north
and next to that with far-off and color
full scenes of adventure from malta
ridden Sicily to canal-mad Panama
should now take New York as the set
ting for novel and produce perhaps
a better and stronger piece of fiction
than ever before, there can be little
question but that Rex Beach has done
this very thing He has scored again.
and heavily, in his stirring and vari-
ously diverting story of New York.
stage. and smart society, and under-
world-"The Auction Block recent
" published by the Harpers. The story
is full of the atmosphere of the great
wniteway-an atmosphere familiar in
a measure; indeed. in certain way al
most too familiar. But there is moth
ing hackneyed in Rex Beach's way of
telling his story. and nothing disa-
greeable, true to life as all his mic
lures are. Huinor is never long alb
sent from the narrative. and a whole
some breeziness sweeps through it.
What is more. the authors power of
strfk1ng description and his discrim-
inatfon of character are always ade-
quate to produce the effects aimed at
the effect of point and bigness.
The Auction Block" is, among other
things, good love story, and it is
also a right-rninded story, in that it
contrasts good and evil, the clean and
the unclean, in satisfying, clearcut
fashion. No one acquainted with Mr..
Beach,s previous work will for a mo-
ment SUPPOSE that he has made his
plot the mere occasion for sentimental
ity and for psendo-moral conclusion:
and no one who is unfamiliar with his
writings can retain such an opinion
after reading few chapters of 'eThe
Auction BloclS.p Lorelei, a girl OF ,in-
usual physical charm, the flower OF
her decadent family, has been brought
to New York and put upon the stage
with the sole object of enabling. her
TO capture for husband a millionaire
or a millionaires son. Her vulgar, de-
signing mother, her weak father, her
blaclx-sheep brother. all join in fore
ing upon her the uncongenial role of
adventuress. The family look upon her
as their one hope. Her fathers Illness
and consequent incapacity for work
are urged upon her At last the incor-
rigible brother-who is, by the way,
as entertaining of speech and as un-
consciously funny as incorrfgibles
sometimes are-manages by trickery to
get Lorelei married to Bob Wharton,
the tirrepressible. freakish, hopelessly
neer-do-well son of man of cnor-
nous wealth. Once married, the woman
wakes in Lore1ei's heart: she under
takes to make a man of her husband
and after repeated battles with his
light-hearted perversity she succeeds.
At the same time Lorelei's girl friend
of the chorus, Lilas Lynn, has caused
a scandal through the association OF
her name with that of Harmon, the
steel man. and Merkle, banker, who
as Hammon's friend is quietly benton
saving him from the consequences Of
his folly, meeting Loreleis one night at
lavish entertainment where million
/ aires and coryphees mingle, takes her
"a little into HIS confidence. Thus be-
gin the two main streams of interest,
which, deft1y combined, and compli-
Gated with bizarres but singularly apt
incidents. form an unusually plausible
and Intriguing plot. The persons of
the story are all of Rex Beach caliber
and quality, but quite different from
any he has previously drawn. They are
as queer and human and likable as any
:. that Rex Beach has ever drawn.
1.-THE WIFE OF SIR ISAAC HARTMAN .
BY II. q. Wells. The Mcmillan Co., pub
fishers, New York.
The name of H. G. Wells upon title
page is an assurance of merit. 1t is a
guarantee that on the pages which fol-
low will be found an absorbing story
kold with master Skill In the present
book Mr.. Wells surpasses even his pre-
VSous efforts. He is writing of modern
teciety life, particularly of one very
charming young woman, Lady Hartman,
who finds herself so bound in by con-
fention, SO hampered by restrictions,
largely those of we'll intentioned but
bhort sighted husband, that she is ulti-
hately moved to revolt. The real mean
nf hi fC off h. r
life and those of her associates, are
narrated by one who goes beneath the
surface in his analysis of human mo-
tives. In the group of characters.
writer's, suffra gists, labor organizers.
social workers and society lights sur
rounding Lady Hartman. and in the
dramatic incidents which compose the
years of her existence which are de-
scribed by Mr.. Wells, there is a novel
which Is significant in it's Interpretation
of the trend OF affairs today and fas-
cinatingly interesting as fiction. 1t is
* Mr.. Wells at his best.
I Filled with wisdom and scintillatine
with wit is Mr.. Wells story. The Wife of
Sir Isaac Harman," although the pur-
pose Of the story is doubtful This very
doubt indicates the comprehensiveness
the general appeal and the timeliness
of the volume. Feninism, the antago-
nism of labor and capital. marriage.
SoCldi, pOlitiCai anu TeiiBiouS pTOpISHlSs
the eternal triangle, the proper be-
havior of husbands and wives, all of
these issues are raised in the work.
with which, asks the critic. is Mr., Wells
chiefly concerned? The answer might
well be that THE Wife of Sir Isaac
Hartman" is intended to convey a pic
ture of modern life in which all of
these things are factors, that the in
clusion of them all shows the breadth
of Mr.. Wells outlook. and the absence
of undue emphasis on any one, the fair
ness of his writing. ~
In choosing the modern woman as
his theme Mr.. Wells has embodied in
the character of Lady Hartman a per-
son of commanding interest. The au-
tfior's interpretation of her viewpoint
and of her relation to society is sig
nificent in it's reflection of modern prob
lens and absorbing as fiction. Only less
imposing a figure is Sir Isaac, an ex-
acting, dominecrng. jealous husband.
|kOut of the totally different sets Of ideas
(which govern their, lives, Mr. Wells
has composed what will undoubtedly
| be one of the most discussed novels
OF the season.
THE RIVER"
BY Ednah Aiken. Frontispiece in full
color by Sidney Rosenberg. The Bobbs
Merrill Co.. publishers, Indianapolis.
Thoroughly American in theme. am
bitious.s many-sided and yet unified
1.-THE River" stands out from among
current books as novel that has the
right to be heard. The author has taken
f0r har suhiecf tho truly great idea of