The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-23

in war-tOrn France from the Marne TO the Somme amid the devastation caused by the Hun Spurred on by the neces- sity of getting aid for her war blinded brother. an impulsive Irish girl poses as the fiancee of young American avi- | ator who has been reported killed in action. With his wealthy, grief-strick- en parents, she visits the wounded French cities, showing how they may , help in the work of reconstruction and bringing cheer to the distressed inhabitants-until the young aviator makes his escape from German prison camp and confronts her.
 l HIS GRACE OF GRUB STREET" 1 By G. V. McFadden. The John Lane
 company. publishers, New York. 1 A vivid eighteenth century romance concerning a young literary aspirant 1 who is taken from a Grub street gar ret to edit a journal owned by wealthy city merchant The handsome and good natured editor very soon falls
 in love with Clarissa, his pa ion's
 niece, who is, however. already formal ly engaged to another man. third suitor for Clarissa's hand is Marsden,
 a political spy, who involves her fiance in a perilous duel. and who, by foul | means, succeeds in getting Thorburn, the young journalist, dismissed from
 his patrons favor. Just when the plot
 has all but reached it's consummation a startling event occurs which shatters l Marsden's power for good and all. The plot of the story is exceptionally Intricate; incident follows incident with startling rapidity. and Miss McFadden's vivid narrative art carriesthe reader to the last line without single break.
 "CAMILLA''
 By Elizabeth Robins; Dodd, Mead & Co.,. ;cl,a
 Camilla" by Elizabeth Robins, is an extraordinary book in more ways than
 one; the main way is that it begins about in the middle goes on until she has come quite near the end, and then turns back to the commencement of it all.
 Camilla does not, of course, represent
 the first attempt ever made to tell story
 in this way; it is one which has been used
 before, and which depends for it's success entirely upon the amount of interest the | characters have for the reader, who must, if he is not to be bored. be made to care so much about them that it is not only what happens to them and how they take
 it which is of moment to him. but all the details as to how it happened and why they acted as they did. In other words, the mild interest in it's characters which
 will often suffice to hold ones attention in story told in the ordinary direct way l will not do for one related by this center l first method. And, unfortunately, while there are characters in this novel who are of considerable interest to the reader, they are characters who are dropped when the author turns back to the begin
 ming. And her heroine is not one Of them.
 The book opens when Camilla Tren- holme, young American woman, beauti- full, rich and wellborn, a divorcee whose ex-husband is a millionaire, goes to stay at Nancarrow, the fine old home of an l English family. Michael Nancarrow is very much in love with her. and his sis ter Alise. Lady St. Amant, likes her greatly, and does all she can to help along the match. Michael's feeling for Camilla is true and deep and noble thing; she l feels herself safe with him, and is even to some extent in love with him. They become engaged, but while his other relations welcome Camilla warmly,
 she finds that her divorce makes some things trifle difficult She cannot. for instance, be married in church. although it was she who obtained tee divorce. and that in order to enable Leroy Trenholme, once her husband, to marry the other woman. Presently she chances to meet Trenholmes cousin, and a little later reads an article about him in a news paper, an article stating that he does not intend to start a racing stable in Eng land. WhereupOn she returns to the United States.
 It is at this point that the story turns
 back, and that so far as to the time when Camilla was about four years old We are
 told in detail and at very great length aii about her childhood, her schooldays, her icc urtship and marriage to the handsome
 young millionaire who had already been involved in more than one affair" the appearance of the other woman, the
 "blur of vague unhappiness' which en-
 sued for Camilla, and her parting from
 her husband, before the thread of the story is carried to the place where it was