The New York herald., 1921-05-29

VI llQiiAdililyt WdAihSa
by humor and tenderness, In a way,
this Is a Main Street" story. being
placed in a small town of eastern
Canada called Regalia. 1t concerns
itself with the fortunes Of a small
group Of persons living in a un-down,
dismal row Of buildings known as the
Penelope Flats. And 1t looks out upon
Canada through the eyes OF one OF
these, a man OF culture who has failed
to find anything save want and
struggle in the new land, and who
passes judgment on the country and
the people. But it is better balanced
book than Main Street For in the
forlornness of the setting, in the drab-
ness Of the characters. lives something
worth while, something fine indeed.
The little seamstress who occupies
the position of heroine is a common
little creature, perhaps, with slight
education and less breeding. But she
is touching, she is lovable, she is ad-
mirable in her courage, in her kind
ness of heart, in her perception OF
good in others, In the unconscious CIV
ing Of herself to any need that calls
to her.
The book is written with an infinite
attention to detail. There is too much
of this, yet it remains interesting,
for it is never meaningless. The least
gesture, the condition of the weather,
a yellow leaf falling from tree.
puddles in the sidewalk, the cracks in
the wall Of Penelope room the look
OF an untidy kitchen, the thoughts
wandering through the minds of the
characters, what they say, what they
do, why they say and do these things,
all these matters are set down care
fully. Miss Katie McGee's talk is
transcribed with all it's peculiarities,
its mingling of Irish and Canadian
brogue, and this does not make easy
reading. 1t might have been better
to suggest it merely, and leave the
reader to imagine its sound. Yet with
all this the book remains extraordi-
narily readable. 1t enlists your SYM
pathy. you warm to it. You are glad
to know Katie, glad that she knows
Robert Fulton, glad that he has found
her and her unguessed love of him.
AS you go on reading the many pages
of the old French saying that to com
prehend entirely is to love. 1t is in
this that "Our Little Life" is greater
than Main Street" In the latter
novel there is no true comprehension.
The town and its people are observed
+, from an outside. from an unklnd
viewpoint 1t is the picture given to
you by an observer who considers
himself and his judgments as better,
wiser and cleverer than the characters
of his story 1t is dislike and
contempt that are the salient fea-
lures of the work Not so here. For
though we are aware-through the
quoted portions of Fulton's book as he
reads them to his friend, the seam
stress. who does not understand what
he writes, but who does understand
his need of human sympathy. and
who gives him all she has of that as
she listens-though we are aware of
criticism of Canada that is certainly
not flattering. that in its arraign
ments reaches many of the conclu-
sions of Main Street" in regard 20
the middle West. yet the final reac-
tions are those of hope and affection.
Take this passage:
"Canada's greatness lies to a very
large extent in her absolute ignorance
Of what she lacks: that is the roman
tic side of her. She lacks nearly all
the things that make life beautiful,
and she is magnificently unaware Of
the fact. The immigrants see that
she lacks them-see ii dimly, feel it,
cannot get ii into words. They nave
come from the old lands hoping TO
he able TO lay hold of just those things
which they have looked at from afar
all through their European lives. 1t
is the vague longing for something
that is not in Canada at ala long
ing that often translates itself into
mere grab and hold fast and loud
falkland the disappointment that
underlies this life of theirs overseas.
that gives the oddly romantic flavor
which one Is conscious of in so many
OF them. They miss the aristocratic
view of life. They have never been
sharers in it-only onlookers; they
have grown, quite rightly, to resent
It: yet ali the same. once away from It,
they miss IL. and no amount of mere
material prosperity can quite make up
for il :"
So Robert, reading from his unpub-
lisned manuscript. And Miss MCGEE,
listening. dimly getting what he means
mods her head Yes, she remembers
her mother. who came from Ireland:
remembers her ways. her voice, her
dignity, her reverences. But she loves
CANADA, though she cannot put tho
why Of II into words. And meanwhile
Into Miss McGee's little room
came the voices of The coming citizens
~ Canada. Robert sat readng-pour-
ing forth his ideas, his theories of tho
New World, In which he was such an
unwilling citizen: and there. outside.
where one could almost reach II with
an outstretched hand, was the real
thing. The citizen who was going TO
mould Canada. The thing that was
going TO make the country what II
was and is and shall be. The children
laughed and wept and shouted !.
but whatever they did. they did what
4bptt1anI Cnpada hnplfu and him.