New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-09

I
real information upon letters from the front
and the brief visits Of men on leave, and she
/ describes the mental condition Of such q
! woman in a sympathetic spirit which does not
exclude some shrewd touches OF insight
/ And this publication wonders whether
she herself was conscious of the parable
which at once suggests itself between her
heroine Nelly Sarratt, and an earlier war.
widow of fiction, Amelia, in Vanity Fair. y
JAMES L. FORD, writing in "The New
Al York Herald" holds up earlier work
of Mrs. Wards as constituting a fair
standard by which the present may be
valued. He says:
"After reading Missing ! reached the
sage conclusion that Mrs. Hunphry Ward
has abandoned the high literary principles OF
the Arnolds and gone in FOR rapid writing
and money making There is but one theme
in her novel and that is the one expressed in
tie title and the whole story is told in 4
lachrymose vein that becomes wearisome long
before the end is reached. To compare the
sameness Of this new book with the infinite
variety Of thought and character obtained in
let us say. Robert Elsmere,' is 10 realize
what a descent there has been from the Vic
torian age OF letters in which Mrs. Ward be-
gan 10 write and that of get-rich-quick in
which we now live.
81 do not mean 20 say that Missing is de-
void OF merit or that it is not better than
r'nc-tenthS of the novels that are turned
cut nowadays. 1t is only when we subject il
10 the entirely fair comparison with previous
works of the same author that we are struck
by its inferiority."
In a recent book of literary criticisms
Arnold Bennett, referred to a moment age
as denying Mrs. Wards possession of a
sense Of humor and accusing her of Great
ing "excruciating hcroines, made this dire
statement;
81 have invented destiny for Mrs. Hum
phry Wards heroines. II is terrible and
Just. They ought to be caught, with their
lawful male protectors, in siege OF great
city by foreign army. Their lawful male
protectors ought, before sallying forth on a
forlorn hope, TO provide them with a revolver
as a last refuge from brutal and lieentious
soldiery. And when things came to crisis,
in order 10 be concluded in our next, the re-
viewers ought 10 piO'c " DC uH4V@uSu'
in "The New York Globe" it was sug-
qested that perhaps, had Mr.. Bennett read
Missing" before making merry over Mrs.
Ward. he would not have wished upon
these heroines such fearful fate" mo
one" this paper went on to say, could be
cruel toward the heroine of Missing a
l-t,l IL oil
Nelly, who would have dropped and died
altogether if she had not been faithfully
supported by her titled and wealthy neigh
Dor" However, THE Globe" itself re-
NAMED a bit skeptcaI about Mrs. Wards
book. ut may be bad TASTE" the criticism
proceeded, "to write lightly Of war story
built around the CHASTITY tragedy of Miss
ing But the story is not very convincing.
There does not seem sufficient excuse for
the villany of the elder sister, who is as
bored by the war as Max Eastman was
before things were livened up bit for
him. Mrs. Ward has doubtless intended to
show the stiffening effect Of the war on
reed-like and dependent woman. But she
has only succeeded in writing regulation
novel of conventional and romantic type.
1t is too bad all the novelsts feel CONS
PEELED to write about the war. Yet, what
else is there to write about"
THE pathos Of those who sit and wait
Il and mourn-those women through
whose eyes Mrs. Ward has chosen to watch
the grim progress of war-is we'll brought
cut in the following snatch of talk be-
tween Nelly and her friend Mrs. Grayson,
a farmers widow:
ats devils work, is war!" she said, her
eyes blazing Nelly held out her hand and
Mrs. Grayson put hers into it.
Eyes. it's awful" said Nelly, in low
voice. "They want US TO be brave-but"----
Mrs. Grayson shook her head again.
I'VE can do it when they're settin' there
afore u.s." she said; "but not when we're by
cur lone
Nelly nodded
.It's the nights that are the worst" she
murmured under her breath, because it's
then they're fighting when we're in bed
sleeping"
"Nlv boy was killed between l and o'clock
in the morning" whispered Mrs. Grayson 81
heard from one of his friends He said il
was a lovely night, and the daylight just
g, min I'D. | think Of IL when I'm layin'
awake, and hearing the birds beginning"