Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1922-10-14
Tie Gazette 5, Book Shelf
A. RIB.

THIS FREEDOM, by A. S. M.
Hutchinson. (Little, Brown and
Company - b..
flames Harvey Robinson tells us
that we (Americans) are "by nature
stubbornly pledged to defend our own
from attack, whether it be cur per
Ism, our fanny, our property, Or our
Lpinion.D For this reason Mr.. Hutch
;nsou's latest novel was destined to
arouse more criticism and evoke more
prrise than any other publication Oh
| tkt season. To those who believe
THAT woman can marry and have
| children, continuing in her work or
profession. and neglecting neither
home nor business, this book VIII be
4 personal insult, an attempt by a
Er.isguided enthusiast TO destroy, a
cherished opinion. To others VINO
believe that the times are out OF
! icint and that too successful feml-
nine population needs stern chasten-
i've. Mr.. Hutchinson wall appear as a
sort of modern john ;he Baptist, cry
ing. "Repent! Repent" To the I'M
| his sed observer he might seem to be
q painstaking Individual, presenting
a theerem with meticulous care, yet
never quite being able to write @. Z.
D.. at the foot of the page.
But a discussion OF Mr. Hutchln-
sons ethical and sociological views
is not the reviewers part. What
We can and do applau" is the beauty
of craftsmanship and raises the story
above the level of ordinary fiction. 1t
is the story of Resale Aubyn but
there are Incidental scenes and cpl
| scdes that are little miracles of mar
ration.
Resale Aubyn is, like David Cop
pcrfield in his heart of hearts, the
authors favorite child. Her early
life in the "jolly uig rectory" is given
in detail and the best Of the story is
in these first chapter. The family
serves only as background to Rosa
lies wistful charm at the very NOM
ent when her real unlmportance IT
the family is being stressed. But II
is the little unfinished sketches OF the
father and mother, the mementarI
.glimpses Of the Aubyn family life
That are vital and which make us re
get that the principal characters IN
the story, Resale and Ter almost-too-
perfect Harry, fall short Of reality
In one short paragraph the shabby
cmbittered rector lives for US, as the
admirable Harry never does, and VIC
sec him as Resale herself might
have seen him, "a terribly lonely
man, a fierce, flying, futile figure
scudding about on tn face OF the
parish and in the vast gaunt spaces
iof the rectory trying to get
away from himself, hungering after
the things that his self had lost"
There is a paragraph about Rosa
lies little mid-Victor.an mother, as
rerfect in it's way as the comparison
of the parents which follows:
"Rosalie's mother did everything
il the house and she was always do
ing something in the house-fot
somebody else. She never rested and
she was always worried Her brows
we're always wrinkled with the fever
ish concentration of one anxiously do
irg one thing while aLxiously think
! ing of another thing waiting to be
done. She had 4 driven and hunted
! lock"
Then the summing up: R0SaIle
father in his youth thre waway every
thing. Rosaie's mother throughout
tie whole of her life gave away every
think. Rosalie's fathe; was tragic
figure dwelling in the horne of bond
age; but he was at least a tragic
king. ruling his house ;ndventing his
griefs upon his house. Resale
mother was a tragis figure and she
was a tragic slave in the house of
bondage. The life Of Rosalie's faith
eE was a tragedy, bus a tragedy IN