Evening star., 1924-03-16
Reviews of New Books

-
! and along the lines of Peregrine's re-
birth. any one sprung from English
roots, as the most OF us are YET.
CHILDREN OF LONELINESS. BY
Anzia Yezierska, author of Hun
cry Hearts," etc. New YolG: Funk
& Wagnalls Company.
Anzia Yezierska Is of deeper inter-
est and intenser appeal than any lit.
erary invention POSSIBLY can be. Yet
that she projects. Where the ma
jority Of writer's never do come
through their words and phrases. or,
at the best, in only shadowy DISCUSSES
an is the story, the story Is the wom-
an. And when, now and then, she
moves away from herself-no, that is
not right. When, now and then, she
ual soul and self. it is to offer more
of the soul and self OF the Immigrant.
1t is to picture, out of her own lone
illness, the homesick soul of the i'm
migrant-all immigrants, questing
some place. some condition, out of
which they may. in part. feed their
devouring hungers for old familiar.
far-oT things, no matter how griev-
GUS the burden of those things may
have been. One will hardly again
through as these stories show, nor
such vehement urgency of effort, nor
such persistence of Importantly, such
pains of parturition. No wonder that
AnZia YezierSka moved out of the
sWeatshop and poverty into the realm
of recognized artistry. Reading her
stories, studying the passion of her
efforts, one hears the echo of an old,
old prayer: Except Thou bless me
Twill not let Thee go" opportunities
like this must carry respect in heaven
as they surely do command respect on
earth.
THE OUT TRAIL. By Mary Roberts
Rinehart, author of THE Breaking
Point" etc. New York: George H.
Doran Company.
The out-and-out west, the desert
down below, and the Florida keys
| provide the various settings for the
half-dozen adventures set down here
AS a traveller Mrs. Rinehart stands in
a class by herself. Others climb
mountains. explore deserts and sail
the seas for reasons that fit into a
few familiar pigeon-holes of classi-
, fication. To increase the sum of
human knowledge is the favorite pur-
pose openly avowed. Industrial
! inspiration for creative art. and SO
, on, and SO through a list of highly
| meritorious objects these reasons run.
And all these travellers arc sincere,
| one. takes it, for they usually come
| knowledge and the look of solid ac-
complishment that properly runs
along with enterprises so serious and
weighty. Not for any of these rea-
sons does Mrs. Rinehart SO frequently
fare out into the world. She goes be-
cause she wants to. Nothing more
than that does she own up to-unless
| 1t be that the man folks are go ns
and she refuses to be left behind
And, no matter where she goes.
whether to mountain or desert or sea,
the outcome invariably is that the
real adventure is one into the land
of high spirits. and the zest of life,
and the Joy of the moment And this
tions prevail-on tap every minute.
those high spirits and that zest and
that joyous tasting of life. To the
reader it is distinct refreshment and
recreation to set out in this air of
frank avowal, to go along expectant
of each moment to do it's part, and to
laugh ones way through situations
that range all the way from desperate
! to delightful. A good spring send-off
Ito read these adventures.
THE BLINDNESS OF VIRTUE. BY
Cosmo Hamilton, author OF An
other Scandal" etc. Boston: Lit
tie, Brown & Co.
The pulpit having somewhat con-
,clusively demonstrated either its re-
luctance to approach SO delicate a
matter or it's inability to reach out
! into a certain line of danger, the
novel and the stage have, to an eX-
tent, reinforced the common secular
| lines of social reform. THE Blind
ness of Virtue" is = case in point. The
new issue Of novel that has already
pasTed into stage and film production,
1 HfstNDcflN
pointed upon the general refusal of
parents to enlighten their children
about the supreme prcpoSSeSsion of
the huma;1-sex: Happily, the fa-
Host here through the really human
Equality OF the story itself While the
point and conclusion Of the matter
have to do with the escape of young
girl from the psnalty OF seEon her n9
the story is the girls father-Harry
Pemberton, parson of East Brenton.
Here is a real man-robust. happy,
lclean-living, deeply interested in the
Lives of the common folks around
him. A man who might have been,
maybe a bishop. had he not chosen
work to word, action to gesture. The
intimate passion Of Harry Pember-
tons life is his carefully protected
daughter. A natural web of circum-
stance throws this girl, alarmingiy
but not uncommonly Ignorant into
the dangers of first love. The father
in his work has seen tragic examples
of just such Z situation. Under his
urge the mother, as the natural one
to do it, promises to tell the girl what
she ought to know. But the mother
is so delicate, SO modest. so much OF
one kind Of hopeless fool, that sue gees
back on her promise and then lies
about it. A gentle, womanly woman,
this Plausible throughout, we'll con-
structed, seriously bent to its purpose,
the story interests-in spite or the
fact that it is meant to instruct.
: THE GARDEN OF PERIL. BY Gym
thia Stockley, author of "Ponjola-' y
etc. New York: G. p. Putnam's 8
"ponjola." Not 50 wide and free
a fling of South African action and
atmosphere about it as the romances
of this writer commonly present. a
simple story whose heroine is as
unwaywise as convent training can
make her \ lovely detached figure
is Peril sitting high in her
Rhodesian garden watching the world
ride by down below No romance,
nocence and beauty alone. 1t would,
SO sli1nly fed, soon die Of inanition.
The writer knows this, none better.
I So there is to sustain it a lady riding
Dy DOWN Deto" the SaFuei Oi PERIL
a lovely-and. wick ed-lady with eyes
OF desire cast upon her sick hus-
bands cousin, Punch Haseltine, a
handsome man, and, in this case at
least, an innocent one. Thewickedness
of this lady goes back in knowledge
and method to those dark days when
troublesome husbands-and wives
could be disposed of with both
ceIerity and secrecy. So much. how
ever, depends upon the setting. the
| age, the custom. This lady, unlike
those earlier ones, was quite out of
Joint with her time. Upon Peril
devolves the task of trying to save