New-York tribune., 1916-02-12
The RELFRN.


THE BELYRY By MAY sinclAr. limo. %. 5s2
TIE Macmillan COMPANY
A cockncy who becomes, II not a
great. at least q very popular author.
This is the hero OF Miss Sinclairs
new novel. As she has dealt once be
fore. in her mastery "The Divine Fire,
with a cockncy Of genius, it IS only
Just 20 her and 20 the reader 20 state
at the outset that the two books have
nothing in common. There Is not
touch OF the dreamer, the poet, about
the capable craftsman of "The Belfry,'
who plans his literary career with al
the sober calculation OF manufacturer
getting ready 10 market new article.
His first novel must shock the read
ing public and the reviewers. II ac-
complishes its purpose. His second
novel is intended TO create more talA
by undoing the effect Of the first, by
practically giving it the lie. 1t sue
ceeds in doing just that. And then
comes his third novel, which becomes
the best seller Of two continents; It
was destined to be from the first.
After victory in the campaign he
settled down 20 business. mere
was the business OF the snort
story; the business Of the mono
graph; the business Of the maya
zine article and tho newspaper
column. and the speculatons mat
developed into the immense bus
mess of his plays.
An Grririste. then. to borrow an eX-
pressive French word for which we
have no equivalent. True, but withal
so complex a character that Miss SIN
clair explains him 20 US through a
third parsonage. his erstwhi!e rival IN
love, and later his brother-in-law. Thus
we see him intimately, while yet the
inmost secrets Of his complexity re-
main hidden until the time comes for
him 20 reveal them himself. He mar
ries-and his wooing is planned as *
mis- career girl socially far above
him, the daughter OF a Canon Of Can
terbury Cathedral, a rarely perfect
flower Of English caste and breeding.
Her family IS horrihcd at the little
beast: she is in ecstasy over his
genius. lie. with his amazing all
round efficiency, sets 10 work 20 win
them. lie cultlyates his aitchcs and
his manners, but his mean appearance
must ever be against him.
But behold. at the noodtidc Of his
prosperity and popularity, the boundcr
in him begins 10 come TO the surface
again, result. his brother-in-law con
cludes. of the fatigue of the merclless
overworking of his talent. The eN-
haustion is as yet hardly perceptIble
in his work; 10 was I'm Jimmy him
self, and more especially and fatally
in the Jimmy who struggled against
what he called the damnaDle tendency
to do the sort of thing your father
does" And his father was impossible
The crisis comes when he builds HIM
self Tudor castle IN London, every
bit Of whose splendors advertises his
renascent social inferiority- baronl-
al staircase, its tapestries, its armor!al
decorations IN crimson and gold, lis
pretentious furniture Of many styles
His wife at last surreuders. She sees
him as her people have seen him from
the first. and shudders. Some OF his
habits get on her nerves but wlthal
she continues 20 love him. She would
be even more miserable away from him
than she is with him. That IS the
tragedy Of the situation.
Here we will leave Jimmy and his
wife to the reader The belfry of the
title is that Of Bruges. Il is there t4at
he clumsily compromises the girl he Is
TO marry; IL is TO it that he returns IN
the opening days Of the war. Tor
Jimmy. efficient always, succeeds IN
what he has set out TO do-the winning
Of the appreciation and the affection Of
his wifc's critical relations.
An exceptionally able and interest
ing study. this. Of an exceptional char
acter. sympathetic. yet curiously sloof
i'm its realism An admirable picture.
also, Of that fine English breeding
which. it is expected. the war viii drive
from its seclusion and aloofness. Miss
Sinclair handles a host Of minor char
acters with unerring grasp; and her
closing episodes, amid the alarums of
war, are vivid with the frst-hand
knowledge which she acquired during
her own ambulance service iu the field.
The story is increasingly readable, an
other notable achievement of its dis
tinguished author