Evening star., 1922-09-03


s author throws UP his
hands, stops short. gives
up. For. he has drained invention
dry Of disaster. piled up mountains
of calamity. digged deepest hells of
misery. Now why this total wreck
age of family? The why" provides
the story upon whose trail Mr.. Hutch
inson has camped for the past two
years--pursuing. hunting down, dig
ging out cudgeling to death. strip
with neat Sits between Joints, making
an expert Job of laying bare heart.
lungs. liver and the rest Of the ma
chinery of keeping alive. The motive
driving this tremendous to-do fs that
to combine the ONCE and the home; to
reconcile a business career with wife
hood, to make terms between banking
and mothering. 1t is with this theme
that Mr.. Hutchinson makes the story
ii 1t be a story: And. certainly, c,n II
vincing realism, it's situations ap-
propriate and interesting. its action
plausible, its outcome springlng, clear
ly, from the matter behind 1t. 1t 10,
however. at the violence Of the retri-
butive forces and effects rounded up
here that one balks. So. modern
romance though this may be. its effect
is that OF God laundering from Sinai,
Of some aloft and angry oracle ad-
monishins the people. At his best
inson recalls Carlyle-apocalyptic.
throwing away the tools Of his craft
in the rush Of catching the vision
On slightly lower levels he is much
like George Meredith-clipped. clip
teal, but at least coherent. And:
, c sincere
comprehending realism taken out OF
the immediate present One comes
out of the book greatly stirred-pro.
testing, denying. pointing to a worio
full of unfortunate and uni unhappy, pp,sc1ns chn,-
mothers to whom by implication ana
direct contrast the author points as
the saviors of the future. But those,
of course, are for another story. One
merely lugs them in as part OF his
A nightly stirring book with enough
Of truth at its heart to give hre 10
the controversy that is bound to name
around II.
CERTAIN PEOPLE OF IMPoR-
TANCE. BY Kathleen Norris. au-
L thor Of The Story of Julia Page"
etc New York: Doubleday. Page
& Co.
How good it feels to be at home again
Battered and bruised by the Vivid
poignances Of another recent novel, one
settles here, joyfully, into the easements
of the familiar and beloved American
family. Recently, more than one novel
list has thought it worth while to make
use of the earlier movements ana SET
Elements in this country-pioneer move
ments. Hamlin Garland has already
proved abundantiy: the worth Of this
plan So did Herbert Quick in H"Nsnde-
marks Folly" And now Mrs. Norris
In this story Of the Crabtree family. has
,, produced a book--a work one Is inclined
to call it-that possesses the Vaiue OF
| history. and. at the same time. is alive
with the charm of romance. And 1t il
a story that is very much aliNe-its men
and women are real and recognizable.
| thinking as our folks think. acting as
/ they do. looking out upon life and seeing
it pretty much as II is. Ihese people.
30 clean-cut 80 believable-are set in
surroundings familiar to Americans
| There is the movement from Illinois
toward the west, every aspect OF II true
to the time in which it is set. There Is
the home on the coast-that. naturally
out Of the authors familiarity. de-
velopment Of perfect outline and con-
tent 1t takes a very real power to
carry forward the fortunes OF big
family, like the Crabtrees, without over
stress here or too sketchy treatment
there. And it is this confident balance
strong points and the lighter measures.
that produces. finally. consistent and
deeply interesting picture OF American
life in one Of its periods of develop
ment. We appear to be looking for the
great American novel these days Yes?
No?
A vAGRANT TUNE. By Bryan T.
Holland Boston: Small. Maynard
& Co.
A lovely old d-fashioned story, miles
away from the fevers and chills
of social problema Even to get to
the place where the story grows one
must leave the highway for a wagon
track. and this for a foot path @ IN
Lavender and Euphemia live. And
back. still farther. is the other house
lonesome and haunted, or it was
lonesome and haunted till Mr.. Tidd
and his boy, Bobbie. moved in. when
both the loneliness and the ghost
ran away. There is youthful touch
to the matter when Bobbie falls
in love with the city girl-but that