Evening star., 1917-05-06
Reviews of New Books

New Books
common one. Harboro ended it in one
of the two common ways that men use
TO satisfy their wounded honor.
THORGILS. BY Maurice Hewlett, au-
thor of The Forest Lovers" etc
New York: Dodd, Mead Co.
Stories drawn from an uncluttered
past suit the peculiarly transparent
medium of Maurice Hewlett In no
other kind is he quite so much himself,
quite so satisfying to the reader as in
these old tales "Thorgils'' is a story
of Iceland in the time of Eric the Red
Thorgils is its hero a true Morse boy
OF that old day, working to be leader
in all deeds of daring. looking for far
adventures. learning to master the wild
seas about him. going to combat with
hostile bands around him. The story
of Thorgil is an adventure of the physi-
cal man against the forces of nature
and against men who are themselves
like the forces of nature. A staid and
beautiful story of the wooing and we'd
ding of Thorgil gives a softer side to
this otherwise strenuous story of ad-
venture. The distinctive quality of Mr..
Hewletts work, that remarkable use
of words by which the reader himself
passes directly into the action of the
adventure into the personal compan-
ionship of the people engaged in this
action. this is as conspicuous in Thor
gils" as it is in THE Forest Lovers"
and in all of the other romances by this
author.
JOAN AND THE BABIES AND I. BY
Cosmo Hamilton, author of The
Blindness of Virtue" etc. Lllustra-
tions by Mary Lane Mcmillan. Bos-
q
These intimate personal chapters
from the autobiography of John Main
warng, novelist" round into an idyl of
companionship and love. into a beauti-
fully delicate expression of spontaneous
and uncalculated friendship. One COM
ing into the warmth of it's beauty can
not help feeling of regret that things
could under no circumstances happen
that way. Nowhere except in a book
more is the pity-could a young man,
however lonesome he might be, how
ever much he might be secretly yearn-
ing for the common goal of youth
pick up two adorable babies, who. in
the course of few days of meetings
and partings. should lead him to
mother of an equal adorability with
themselves. With no knowledge of a
situation that certainly implied a father
in the near or remote ofiing, what young
man, outside book, would calmly
transport himself and his belongings
to the cottage of Joan and the babies
and coolly take up his abode among
them? To be sure, it turned out that
the paternal side of this household
had. happily, been gathered to his
fathers-but this fact came out as
mere incidental of the situation, where
as it certainly was the crux of the
whole matter. 1t is a charming little
make-believe. nevertheless. whose rare
simplicity and grace delight one. even
though he knows it to be made out
of whole CLOTH.
AURORA THE MAGNIFICENT. By
Gertrude Hall. author of THE Truth
About Camilla" etc. illustrated by
Gerald Leake. New York: The Cen
tury Company.
Against an attractive background of
Florentine social life this writer pro-
jects the personality of Aurora the
magnificent. spacious and substan-
tial character of pure delight to the
reader. Aurora. a New England wom-
an, suddenly become rich, is taking her
first taste of the joys of affiuence in
this sophsticate Italian city. The ro-
nance that speedily springs up is only
an accentuated line of the generally
humorous development to which the
groundwork of the situation gives rise.
Aurora. wholesomely robust. beautifully
over-culture of her environment. is, in
herself an entertainment of freshness
and charm. Miss Hall is at home in
Florence. The setting, of the story,
therefore. is a richly consistent one.
The striking contrast between its
supercivilization and the gay sponta-
neity of the magnificent Aurora rounds
into a social comedy of brilliance and
of unusual human interest as well.
THE CHASTE WIFE. BY Frank Swim
merton, author of "On the Stair
case" etc. New York: George H.
Doran Company.
In the case of married pair, whether
one should. or should not, tell the whole
truth. depends in large part on the
quality of the party of the second part.
This story is built on the assumption
that complete franknesS is the only
safe basis for happiness. And with
Priscilla that would have been the bet
ter way. But how was Stephen to
know that-how was he to know that
mans usual mode of lying about the
matter would not settle it for good and
all. And Sthphen did not le-exactly.
He merely concealed. But the agencies
of disclosure, that are ever SO busy.
brought out just enough of the truth
to develop the situation of strain and
misunderstanding that gives direction
and climax to this story. The book is.
IN elect, lhc penetrating anu lTduk
analysis Of a marriage adventure whose
surface movements are controlled and
shaped by secret rift in the wife's
confidence. 1t progresses by way of
the puzzled behavior Of the husband
and the honest efforts of the wife to
recapture her lost estate of absolute
trust. Along with Priscilla's efforts
to regain happiness, however, was the
parallel design of making Stephen suf-
fer for his real or assumed detection.
Naturally. the two lines of conduct
brought confusion. neither fully pun
ishing the husband nor entirely salts
flying the wife. The outcome of the
matter. for this particular case, is that
a mans concealment of anything he
may have done in order to be kind to
his wife is a mistake; that open avowal
is the only possible condition of hap