New-York tribune., 1922-04-09

~ just appeared frori the press
~, of Henry Holt & 90. entitled
"Chldrcn Of Trausgression." ="
/ by 6. We're Tyler. 1t has most in
! tereating history.
/ happen 20 know that this remark
/ able story wRH written several wears
ago and went dreary round of re-
Joctions from American publishers
Mrs. Tyler, hnally discouraged over
itz reception, threw it into a desk
drawer and forgot about it. A few
months ago. on a sudden impulse. she
maiIcd this rejected script to Fisher
un"ln. the London publisher. She
received by return mail an enthusiastic
acceptance and q request for another
story rs quickly as it could be writ
! ten.
! Ihls incident is 3 curious comment
on American enterprise How did thi.
manuscript pass through the hands Of
dozens Of intelligent professional
readers" and fail 10 get q hearing in
this country until sleepy English
man discovered it?
Now that the English press is prais-
ing it, the American public can read
! it with a New York imprint!
1t can be. said to be the credit Of
the Holts that they did not ses it in
the first round of reflections.
'HE story is grimly gripping in its
realism, yet there is not a sala-
cious word or line in it The deft
manner in which she has handled her
delicate material is an achievement
In bald statement the plot seems of
color. Yet not much impression IS
made for a momcnt on the mind of the
| reader.
| The narrative opens with the situa-
tion of an outlawed woman living in
a lonely farmhouse in Virginia. Her
! handsome little boy is social out
cast, made to feel, with every breath
he draws, that his mother is unfit to
live IN decent community. Gradu-
ally the iron sinks into his sensitive
soul until his hand is against every
man. Finally ne learns that The Sc
ducer of his mother was the uncle OF
/ his patrician playmate who lives in
the big white pllared house near by.
! This boy and his proud Young sister
are in fact cousins. His mother had
fallen victim TO the fatal gift of
beauty possessed by the Dnngcrfelds
Tor generations. He looked in the mir
ror one day to find that he too had
inherited This sinister power over the
imagination Of women.
Driven at last to desperation by tb.
brutal abuse of his mother, he deter
mines to avenge her. He deliberately
seeks the proud daughter OF the white
plllared house, seduces her and makes
her people drain to the dregs the bit
ter cup which they had pressed to his
mothers lips.
! The triple tragedy and the soy- r.
birth of a beautiful soul in the XII.
who had suffered at his hands max
the ending Of this novel intense an
overwhelming in its beauty and pathos
I'HE book is in many respects re-
markable one. 1t Is remarkable in
Its poignant revelation Of the conflict
between the romantic ideals Of the Old
South and the stern realities Of the new
world. Her character sketches Of the
old regime are terrible and pitifully
merciless in their accuracy. Some folks
in Old Virginia may resent these pic
lures. Yet they are faithfully drawn.
She is a Nirginian Of Virginians-she
knows-and dares to record what she
knows.
1t is still more rema rkable in it's
stern analysis of the secret spring Of
a woman's character and conduct. No
man could have possibly written this
book. She has found the deep roots Of
her heroine's character and makes the
reader feel the source, of her strength
and weaknesses in the subconscious
the nomenclature Of science Of psy-
cho analysis
The story is most remarkable in its
simple, bold. yet restrained realism.
The unwritten chapters arc more in
tcresting to the student of literature
than those written. Our modern dealers
in the salacious would have devel-
oped to the last touch Of suggestive
sensuality the scene of the seduction
of the heroine by the daring and hand
some social outcast. Mrs Tyler has
suppressed entirely this scene. And yet
the pity, pathos and terror Of it fills the
last hundred pages with haunting
wordless anguish.
"Children Of Transgression" Is e
powerful story. 1t gives promise of a
new figure in American literature.
CYNKnAT