The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-19
"cL1PPED WINGS"

WlINNTO. By Rupert Hughes. Harper Brothers, ~sblishers, New York.
 Rupert Hughes has written perfectly Scanning story, Clipped Wings" which A5 sure to be quite as popular as What will People Say?" Empty Pockets and others from the pen of this clever au- thor
 Clipped Wings is story of theatrical life and, unlike many of the stories writ ten about the theatre and theatre folk, it is very true to life and quite unbiased and unprejudiced.
 Sheila Kemble, the heroine, is very at tractive, of course, pretty and a clever actraas ana all the men vino meet her fall in love with her.
 Tss4 man she loves and marries-but "tifat's another story,'' as Kipling would say any way, it's a stunning narrative, sn6 tS you miss it youll be sorry.
 It k Interesting to know how Rupert Hughes came b ythe title of Clipped Wings.'' since it is really quite unusual
 It was suggested to him by story his mother told him of her own childhood Her father, Kentuckian, who had moved to Missouri before the civil war, was A Eaighay hunter. On,,e he wounded a wifu swan, brought it home, and clipped one of its wings. It was a pet of his daughters till a farmland, instructed to dip ths shorter wing again, clipped the 7anger one to an equal length.
 This enabled the swan to. balance kerself and she flew away. The an- Suish of the little girl was unforgot- ten and she told it long after to her son, and he put it in a novel, as a symbol of the life of his heroine His Gether knew nothing of this till she received a copy of the new book. She wrote him: q have just finished read tng the beautiful book that you sent to me, Clipped Wings I never dreamed that on page $50 should read little story that I told you of my carly childhood. It brought to my mind my father as plainly as if he had been standing there right before me; how tenderly he lifted the swan, and the pity in the expression of his face. He had big heart, full of kindness and sympathy for all living things just as you have. I saw the garden and the little stream of water that ran through it where the swan slept At night the water froze in ice all around her. and when ran down to feed her, what trouble she would have to get out If the frozen bed. and how my heart would ache for her in her cold lonc- liness! I saw the swan as she sailed away, and you made me feel again the despair felt then as she disap- peared over the horizon. never dreamed then that, long years after ward. my son would write that incl dent in book of his that will live for centuries"
 One hesitates, in speaking of Rupert Hughes's novel, Clipped Wings" to term it a story of the stage" for these words are apt to suggest tale of familiar and conventional design.
 Nevertheless, Mir. Hughes has done wisely in his latest choice of theme He is so versatile genius that he is perhaps better known to the American public as playwright than as novel; ist His knowledge of the stage at first hand puts~liim on firm ground, and there is not page of Clipped Wings" that does not testify impress thor writing of those things which he has seen and felt and understood. It is this sense of reality, of actuality, that quickens the interest and gives movement to the story. The story winds in and out of the theater in way of it's own, Altogether different from the average novel of it's type. This, in deed is MT. Hughes triumph, that he has portrayed a real drama within the setting to mock one