The Washington times., 1922-06-25
THE { KINdFISHER'
NOVEL OF GREAT
INTEREST
Phyllis Bottoms's New Book
ls Story Of I'm earton's
Rise From obscurity Of
sIums to Fame.
BY AMEs KENDRICK.

BY AMES hENOkSACh.
n STRANGER TO the works Of
A Phyllis Bottome. we were
IA fascinated by her style In
"The Kingfisher'' Doran). almost
Z to the point Of nesiecting the story.
but by degrees becoming accIi-
mated we found leisure to devote
all our attention to the story Of the
origin. rise and vicissitudss Of Jim
Barton.
Jim Barton was q email child at
the beginning Of the story. His
birth and environment were Of the
humbiest. and he appeared destined
to lead the life Of the average child
Of the slums. Els father was given
TO the hard drinking prevalent
among the working class OF Eng
land. and his weekly sprees were
scenes which. though familiar TO
Jim from infancy. were occasions
of terror to the lad. On one such
occasion. Jim came to the defense
Of his mother with a poker. which
ne welded with such effect that
his father died from the blow.
For this he was sentenced to the
penitentiary for three years. Prison
killed what little Imagination Jim
possessed, and he would have been
forever, lost had not he a friend
in the person Of Arthur Atkinson.
Atkinson thought he saw the MAX
ing Of man IN the grimy slur,
boy. and at the expiration of Jim's
sentence obtained for him place
on a barge.
In this prosaic occupation, the
boy by degrees gained a measure
of seif-respect. and more valuable
stiii. O sense Of freedom and OF
beauty. For beauty came to be Tor
him, the world with which he as yet
wasSunacquainted. and which he
craved with all the force Of his ne
ing to know and understand. Tho
flight of a dngfisher. seen from
the towpath while his barge lay at
anchor. came to him as symbol
of beauty. g..
Ambition once awakened in the
lad. Atkinson had little difficulty
persuading him to 90 to school.
Education. he learned. 10 not q
mere matter to be derived rom
books-it implies all sorts Of intsn.
gible acquisitions. The English
schoolmaster. Mr.. Bligh, 10 anus
ingIy portrayed. II he is not typf-
cal. he IL at least familiar, this be-
wildering. incoherent little man
whose sense OF relative values - 80
distorted.
Atkinson's death Just as Jim. un-
der a rather ugly cloud, leaves Mr..
Bligh's charge forever. provides
much-needed legacy. Jim forth
with enters Cambridge. not from,
any personal inclination. but out
Of respect for Arthur's wishes.
Here more difficulties have to he
faced. Jim's method Of taking life
seriously makes his problems nil
the more acute. His interest in
labor and his manifest ability 20
speak in public gave him definite
purpose eventually. His life work
was cut out for him by some in
visible power. He managed to
hold big audiences. to exert consid-
cradle influence, yet 'if he had not
been a great orator nobody would
have listened to him. His mistake
was that he saw there was no side
which was wholly in the right"
Then Viola Egerton appears
upon the scene. She Is the adored
and only child Of parents who are
affluent. aristocratic, capitaiistic.
The progress of their friendship,
was. Of course, not smooth-inter-
esting sidelights on Jim's charac-
ter are continually cropping up
untfl the reader Is subjugated 10
his charm. Nothing Is good enough
for him-even Viola seems to he
found wanting. Yet in the end II
n realized that she is not.
Miss Bottome wastes no words
IN her story. Her style Is clear
and compelling; her earnestness
never IN doubt. The theme is not
a new one-the same evidences Of
social unrest appear in many post
war novels--but II 10 approaches
from a fresh viewpoint. one which
challenges the attention Of the
reader and holds him to the end.