Evening star., 1918-05-26

FAD and gone Is the old mid
Victorian heroine-that frag-s
lie creature. always . lily.
or maybe a pearl, or possibly
q moonbeam.; Either gone.
too. or in complete eclipse. Is that
later heroine-the womanly girl who.
along with her sisters In China and
Japan and Turkey. puts the whole Of
her existence into a waiting for the
choice that shall husband and house
her. Nowadays the only kind Of hero
ine that serves to make q piece Of fic-
tion worth the taking up is the kind
lof girl, or woman, who Is trying.
seriously, to live up to the all-around-
ness Of her being. This is not dia-
tribe against marriage. 1t has moth
ing to do with that subject Though
one might say. in passing. that matri-
mony would be much more sattsfac-
r tory II little more Intelligence and
not nearly SO much emotion were IN
new heroine-that thoughtful. active.
Intelligent. capable and mono the less
charming person who, is clearly hav-
ing 1t all her own way these days
with the fiction-makers. Here are
three novels-all OF them well worth
them believable inventions on the
subject of modern social life. and
feach having as its, center OF interest
one of these new girls Of the imme-
diate present-and of the future. too:
THE AMAZING JNTERLUDE. By
Mary Roberts Rinehart. author Of
"K,'' etc. Illustrations by the
Kinneys. New York: George II.
Doran Company.
What is an 'fdyl"? It has to do
with human beings 1t usually has
to do with love. It's medium is per-
feet sincerity. and an equal sim
plicity. Its action brings into play
those qualities for which men, every
where. have always striven-good
faith, heavenly kindness, thoughts
that soar. and feelings that build
warm fires in the heart It's element
beauty Of men and women. II this
in substance, makes up an idyt-why,
then. The Amazing Interiufe" clear
ly comes into this happy fold, This
is a war story-the story of Sara Lee
lived. used to work in the homo sew
ing circle for the soldiers. And tho
war so grew in Sara Lees heart that
she knew she had to go over to
France to see what she could do
about 1t. How she was to go was
away past the ken of sara Lee. but
the way opened. as it does open for
the blindly coneecrated-and Sara
sara Lee went to the front. There
in a roofless house she set up the
little refuge Of mercy that grew and
grew till 1t became both q homo and
q shrine to the wear1sd war folks
Belgian came and went, ana went and
came. on mysterious errands. which
turned out to be most dangerous mis-
sions in the interest OF his beloved
sland. And Sara Lee loved the Bel
gian and the Belgian loved Sara Leo.
sAnd the lover back home. out In the
west-but you must read about II for
Syourself. Read it for the Joy Of know
Ing Sara Lee. for the thrill Of adven-
turing over into Hunland with the
intrepid young Belgian. and read 1t
! as we'll for the picture Of war time
at the front as the daily life goes
/ Aict. A very beautiful story whoss
sappeal is direct and many-sfded.
sTHE BoARDMAN FAMILY. By Mary
] Burke" etc. New York; The
Macmillan Company.
! Another modern heroine who. under
1.-THE Enthusiastically careful treatmen1
sof Mary Watts. stands out a tho en-
gasing pattern Of many q girl Of the
period. This girl IL q worker, too. One
has seen her a hundred times right here
in America Talented, she puts the stft
to account by earning her own livins
and contributing largely to the needs OF
her own family An outline Of this story
sounds commonplace Many girls have
taken to the dancing stage. Some OF
them have met success there Possibly
now and then one has had . marriage
proposal from her manager. He might
too haYe been . capable but q not oyer,
AD S01G S8Ntasn1Y u66 8o6 e1