Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-12-05

MARY VIOLATION. BY Henry Kitch-
ell webster. author Of AN Ameri-
can Family" etc. Indianapolis:
The Bobbs-Merril1 Company.
A MEXICAN fiction is a hill-not
~ mountain, but q very siza-
bic height for all that. With
the very few cotemporaneous
noVehsts standing upon it's crest.
Henry Kitchell Webster has, unde-
niably. place. This writer is already
established in the confidence of those
VINO have passed into the class o:
discriminating readers. One reache.
promptly. for a new novel by Mr.
webster. without waiting to see what
the critics have to say about it. TIL,
average American family is his ia
vorte theme. Since no America
family Is, as rule. completely aver.
age. Mr.. Webster is able to achiev.
true and appealing drama, rathe.
tnan stodgy chronicle. Mafy Wollas-
from the average in the family
Wollaston. Not quite true, that sine,
the family itself Is a decided lift on.
OF the common run. There is JohL
Wollaston, the father. close to Mar,
herself in the fine substance OF his
human stun. The son Is nearer tht
average, but an albright boy, never
theless. Paula, the stepmother. twent!
years younger than John Wo1laston
and a singing artist, besides, pushe,
all the others to one side in the earl!
part of the story, and monopolize
the stage. Mr.. Webster, in his knowl-
edge of that play acting world. give,
Paula a free hand, for a time. ant
makes a most picturesque matter 0
her in her settings to domestic life
and her prompt unsettlings for a ca
reer. When Mary does. in good time
make her appearance. there Is. sub
sequently. no sustained interest out.
side this intelligent. aloof. fne-feel-
ing girl, whose charm Is as elusiv'
rs 1t is a1luring. Mary is even hon
est in love-that imaginary land o:
unconscious make-believe. And tn
point Of the story lies in this honesty
of avowal when the test of low
comes. A curious episode behind thi;
test-one that rarely gets into
book. Mary Wollaston is some one to
know-a some one that is much NOR.
alive and certainly much more in
teresting than the common run o:
sound of talking.
FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE. BY w.
B. Maxwell. author Of THE Devils
Garden" etc. New York: Dodd,
Mead & Co.
Up to a point. this is everybody's
is. it is the story of any
the For better-for worse" doctrine
Of matrimony. 1t cannot be called
pleasant story. This writer has the
trick of waking folks up when they
might better stay asleep. He is, to be
sure. a prime realist in the intimate
relations. in the time-honored insti-
tutions Of social life. 1t is not pos
truthful in this field. The matter of
this story is. mostly. For worse"
The setting Is English. The chief fig-
ures are the partners in matrimony-
the wife. mere girl in MIND and un-
a person Of high grade.
ating bounder. The story moves on
through her long-suffering respect for
the institution of marriage, and his
visionary schemes, whose unfailing
outcome is further inroad upon her
means and common stepping down
to a more modest mode of life.
after long struggle with
custom. there is a separation. And
much later the approach to divorce.
And there the story reaches its climax
in an exhibition Of English legal pro-
cedure in its relation to clear justice.
The end of the matter leaves Q
,erupulously right-living woman in
disgrace and crowns a plain scoundrel
as something between a saint and a
You can see that this story
would leave any fair-minded person
with a grievance grievance that is
planted in the devilishly plausible art
Of this clear-sighted onlooker upon
life in some Of its most general as
poets.
TIN TALKS. BY Tim Thrift. New
York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
Dear Tim Thrift:
Your little book has passed on to
my share of the pleas
nre and profit" that you hoped
Friend Reader would CLEAN out Of
when one Is getting in trim to face
a frowning world. The world doesn't
frown SO much after a snatch at
Tim Talks" 1t is a splendid book
for the afternoon. when one is bit
in eclipse, his courage and freshness
total OF grit aud zest.
In my hands Tim Talks" Is forced
into a kind of fortune teller-don't
YOU remember how we used to open
the Bible at random to see what spe-
cial word the good God might be
casion Of stress. or that? So. Of a
or at noon. or at night
at any moment Of need for a special
setting up-the casual opening of
Tim Talks" yields solid little block
of experience. of hope. Of vision. Of
some other mans personal adven-
ture. of light on affairs. of a drift
hard common sense and disable sug-
gestion. 1t would be pointless to
name this talk. or that one. There
are SO many that are right-one for
almost every need. And another's
nee is not he er must matinr
for the debt to you
Of only one Of the tribe OF Friend
Reader"
AGES. BY Harry c. Brearley. New
York: Doubleday. Page & Co.
THIS book celebrates an anniver-
sary. the twenty-fifth birthday
Of popular cheap watch. In
a teresting boys, those boys who
invented it. They were given to seeiEg
things, things that would fit into many
corner Of komely life. If they only
could be invented. So. they inVenteo
a great number of these things CT tns
stamp. One day, IN ,her
boarding house. the iIttls
round clock on the mantle! stopped
ticking and commenced talking: And
it said something like this: Here.
you! Look at me! Tn just tiny tict>-
ing clock. I keep good time. l cost
very little money. Make me Just
little smaller. Sci! me for dollar
And you can put the TINE n %c p
And that's where the dollar watch
came from. That story. however,
comes late in this anniversary book.