Evening star., 1925-07-19
Reviews Of New Books

which the author creates an up-to-
date story of social life and business
life, blended in such way as to give
the bright colors of the former and
the gloomier shadows of the latter.
The guiding factor throughout is the
love between a father and his daugh-
ter, the girl who circumvents an evil
plain against her father, who is away
from his business because he is i'll, an
absence which his scheming brother
seeks to prolong. Reading. you may
feel that the girl is a subtle kind of
propaganda for the current woman
question. A minute of thought VIII
remind you that the world Is full of
such girls. Then you go back to thi2
particular one who is carrying on in
the face of many difficulties. A story
with a moral, too-the moral of the
square deal and what comes of IT in
practically every case. The writer
handles talk well. adapting it to her
characters in a natural and clever run
that makes them very much alive. A
good plot, plausible sequence of events,
lifelike characters and f1rst-rate love
story going along with the business
complications-all in all, most read
able romance of today.
CUP OF SILENCE. BY Arthur ].
Rees, author Of Island of Destiny"
etc. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.
In Cup of Silence" Arthur Rees
creates a mystery breeding atmo-
sphere SO dense that II Is calculated to
make even a plain matter take on the
face of guile. This effect he produces
by a feeling and artful blend of the
Sussex downs and an ancient house
and relics of history left by Roman
and Dane. To this blend he adds pride
Nr ~ y-NI r II IL
scent. reverence for caste, single
hearted ambition to restore the de-
parted glories OF noble house. All
this, mere background and setting
becomes so animate and alive and i'm
presSive In the hands of the author as
to reduce the real actors in the ro
nance to something of the character
of puppets. or at least to the role of
subordinates in a tragedy where these
eXternals step to the fore as leading
characters. And to the end the young
man and woman to whom is assigned
the business of carrying this matter
TO d romantic conclusion seem out of
place; too modern, too out of class, so
to speak. The real story is 40 years
old. with a ghost that more properly
fits into this setting than do the two
who are finally left to carry on the
line of HilmerceuX. A remarkable
handling of externals, welding a mass
OF elements into a whole of intangible
effects that are weirdly impressive and
suggestive. The point of Mr.. Rees
work is right here, though for the one
who loves a thrilling mystery that
lasts unsolved for 40 years the "Cup
of Silence" will prove to be an adroitly
managed story to meet just that sort
of liking.
WINGS TO DARE. BY Grace Hoff-
man White. Portland: The Mosher
Press.
A LITTLE book of verse, whose gen.
eral theme is friendship and good
will, with much of faith and therefore
not little of hope in its appeal.
Verse Of many kinds-lyric and SON
net. touch of free verse and now and
then bit of metric prose or un-
rhymed verse: verses about nature in
its kindly, everyday aspect; shading
trees and nesting birds, the rain in
It's benef1cence, the sea in its softer
moods, pleasing fancies such as poetic
folks conjure out OF their own outlook
upon the world. There are poems of
places-New England. Venice, Italy.
Sentiment and imagination combine
here to work out pleasing patterns of
thought and fancy which the author
has embodied in a series of songs
whose prime quality Is a delicacy of
texture and the soft effect of a water
color that portrays some restful cor
ner Of wood or field.