New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-08
HE HONEY BEE.

49,
~ BoSEr BE Ey s,"n' n N .sg Iaai iS;.
't'Na IS r r., Ns--a company.
A. ,,evwin's new novel deserves 70
.58ed 70 The notable 6ction by Amer
authors which this season has
60, forth. Dealing with serious
~" ~ the hour, the economically IN
~ SLs.,5s~. woman. the worker-"Ihe
- 80. Rec" as he calls her-he tells
a. the same time as entertaining
49, q adventure as one can wish
>. indeed. ;he Arst half Of this book
W - lo7r delight Of unconventional
s.r..loDs .nccr.ously invented and
- .oeether with unfa!ling spirits,
~ unconventional characters worth
wing. And here again, among the
80 Tvrls,ers OF the cabaret teas Of
81, and among the girls of its revues,
.t.-si, tonic IS approached once more
lower 'cvcl-the sclf-supporting
..,sr her opportunities and her ham
g,,,s I. IS one Of the merits Of this
~ Inst its author assumes that his
.,.8er, arc by now familiar with the
..,t1on. lie does not undertake TO
.,,.-uc, them: he lets the cases he pre-
-, sneak t0r themselves; and where
n. heroine rcaeralizes, it is only to
.b,sin a wider view Of her own partlc-
u'ar perpleX'tes.
q. Is thirty-two. In the course Of
,v.lvs years she has won business sue
,.,, bv uneeasirg labor. She is 8 de-
,.ytnent head in one Of New York's
,atlng drygoods stores; she earns
,Isb, thousand dollars per year, and,
rssn the story opens, she IS in Paris
%, the spring buying. Il IS the OBJ
,oYious eallantry OF the elderly N.
Irmsndeville, her firms agent, which
as, upsets her. Her extreme perturb-
area (she has had such encounters be-
is-,) suf3ees 90 convince her that her
,s-ves are all wrong, that she needs
rest. And then begins her year OF
,sv,nture, Of complete change, which
bsrns IN comedy and ends in tragedy.
sse svskers again 20 what she had
S,llberstely forgotten these twelve
,,srs-that she is a woman as well as
. business woman; she weighs what
hs has achieved against the price she
has paid FOR Il; she comes near TO the
happiness denied her ct the beginning
o. lie, then loses all, 20 return 70 the
shop and is concerns. For Mr.. Mer-
win has had the courage, and the abil-
nv. 70 write a feministic novel that
does not weakly end IN marrisge-the
cutting Of the G0rdian knot which does
no, solve anything. One hopes that
the tuthor will have the further cour-
are, IN 6 future story, TO follow his
heroine through her later life, when
the energies begin 20 flag and a new
generation imperiously knocks at the
door. What is the prospect for the
economically independent woman Of
fifty and beyond?
Worth noting also is the authors
frank recognition Of the sex differen-
tation which persists in the lives Of
men and women in business. His honey
bee knows full well how men relax the
strain and find their benefit therein;
she also knows their tolerant under
standing Of each others ways and their
readiness 10 stand together. But such
castings o. The tension are not for her
sex, equals though they may be in the
struggle for life She makes her own
depsrture-she goes TO live in little
hotel among the cabaret performers;
she makes the acquaintance Of prize
fighter, q self-respecting, quiet, clean
living chap; she adopts a baby
everything conduces 70 reawaken her
dormant womarhood, and VI. Armande-
Vile and the people at the store IN
New York report with malicious glee
tia; she has gone 10 pieces. Then
comes the epilogue Of her unfortunate
love affair Of long ago. Full, awake
now emotlonally, within sight Of hap
piness, she defes the conventions, that
tie man whom now she can never
marry may die in her arms.
The book is a serious contribution TO
the discussion Of the complex question
Of womsn's new status. II IS richly
suggestive Of searching thought, but
vithsl Il Is from first to last an excel
lent, q most readable novel, admirably
well constructed and well written. In
eidentally it may be mentioned TO ANA
teurs that Mr.. Merwin's description Of
the great champion prizehght between
Carpenter and Blink Moran is worth
their while.
FIDELITY.