Evening star., 1926-09-05
IDA GILBERT MYERS.

oEAO SADtAEOR. by IeIClNaI N-iii 49,
topher Wren, author of Beau
Geste." etc New York: Frederick
A. Stokes Co.
TT Is an instinct with every sort Of
human hunger to return to the
field that has already given it
Il sustenance and support. After
the clear triumph of Beau
Geste" no wonder that it's author
again betakes himself to North Africa
to, repeat his victory. And Beau
Sabreur' steps out from this second
venturing in clear challenge to its
predecessor. Here again. as in Beau
Geste," we come upon Henri de Beau
jolais French hussar. Since adren-
ture is the breath of life to De Beau
jolais, it is a syodsend that he is of the
French intelligence staff, going among
the uncertain tribes to discover all
the things that a coloniZing country
must know about the natives so,
grounded in the language of the tribes,
the Beau Sabreur, now as camel
driver or water carrier, again as a
blind leper or a seller of dates ana
melons, now this, now that, goes. out
into the hidden places of the desert.
Restless natives. fierce aGitators for
holy war to exterminate the infldel.
impossible routes, stretches OF desert.
sudden surprise OF threatening tribes
these are the things that make the
days and nights of DE Beaujolais. No,
not quite, for the supreme thing in
the heart of him is duty to his coun-
try and after that, love for his
friends. And if YOU want to meet
brave and beautiful youth. entirely
human and yet beautiful. get ac
quainted with the Beau Sabreur. If
you want TO feel the spirit Of that tur-
bulent region, go along with him into
Its corners and crannieS, ride the deS-
ert for the sense of something un-
bearably terrible and beautiful. If
you want to realize the cleansing JOY
of true friendship, tie up with De
Beaujolais. If you long for a glimpse
of love for country, see him count his
friends second to the commanding
voice of that country. If you want
adventure, night and day, its dangers
and escapes and glorious thrills, keep
close to the Beau Sabreur. You have
no choice about keeping close to him,
for having touched him once you will
be no longer free. For he is a clear
enchantment of romantic and beau
tiful youth. After all this. if you feel
like the most gorgeous of comedies
why, then, keep right on reading
Beau Sabreur" to it's very end. Ro-
mantle, picturesque, peculiarly hui
man, clean as the upper air, dramatic
In the highest degree-nOW. here is a
book that is a book Don't miss the
glamourous truth of this real mans
adventure.
WAYS OF ESCAPE BY Noel For
rest. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
THE family, as such, has come tar
dily and with seeming reluctance
into the field of current fiction. The
modern novelist i'll outlook and method
IS blood relation to the scientist, both
of them bent sedulously upon the pur-
suit of truth The family. a safe and
tried institution, has nothing TO do
with the relentless aims n science.
Yet now and then some audacious
young writer appears to believe that
1t is a legitimate field of exploration.
Here is one that does. Noel FORESTS
first novel breaks into the family fold,
scattering tradition and pretense and
a general acceptance Of this SaCro-
sanct institution to such four winds
of revelation as he is able lawfully to
set in motion. Here it turns out that
g a family may be a tyranny SO it
may be That it may be under the
domination of personal seltishness.
That ii may be controlled by the van
tty and Conceit of its oVerord. Ste
phen Heath is the head of this par
ticular household. An able man, born
Self-seeking and vain, he dominates
his wife and children, body and soul.
He controls the neighborhood to a
marked degree. Each child's career
is laid out for him with no reference
whatever to the aptitudes and wishes
of that child. Under the familiar
platitude, your father knows best"
every case is decided. A little scru-
tiny reveals that stephen Heath, even
in the vital matter OF his children'S
future, is feeding his own self-love. \
bitter story of tragic course and eli
max. The title OF the novel describes
its action. The ways by which these
children escape the prison and the
hard taSkmaSter are set down here.
Not till Stephen Heath has been
beaten to the ground does he acknoWl-
edge the rights of his own family.
This is very important novel. It
has courage and aim. 1t may be over
stressed. | think il is. l think Ste
phen Heath is overplayed. He is too
steadily condensed and exclusive in
his own egotism to be quite plausible.
All the same, this is. in its purpose
and general development, a true story,
that applies in some degree to every
family. The sooner this is admitted,
the sooner the family tradition is eX-.
ploded. the better will it be for that
life. a very promising first novel, by
a clearly serious and competent writer
A novel that is provocative of denial
and protest. And that is good, too.
THE EXQUISITE PERDITA. BY 4.
harrington. author of The Chaste
Diana" etc. New York: Dodd,
Mead * Co.
HERE are Garrick. Richard
Brinsley Sheridan, the Prince
of Wales who later became George ",
the lovely singer. Sheridan's wife, and
Perdita Robinson herself with, be-
sides, a host of lords and ladies',
theater folks and scandal mongers
These constitute the human element
around which this author creates
another romance of eighteenth CEN
tury London. The life of society and
the theater form the immediate back
ground of an action that Centers upon
the left hand alliance between the
stage favorite Of the moment, "eX-
Quis!te Perdita." and the coming
George " of England. 1t is a pa
thetic little story. though Il brilliant
one-that Of bright. new toy speedily
dimming with overuse and finally
abandoned for a newer one. \ con
stant theme, you see, working
through every time and place
wherever human nature acts in an
instructive and unrestrained manner.
Right here the familiar theme is con
fined to the high life of London 200
years ago. The authors clear
familiarity with both the form and
the spirit of this theme serves 10
produce u vivid picture OF the stage
when Garrick and Sheridan ruled, of
the society that gathered in the
theaterS of the period. \ touch of
political insurgency is here, too. in the
81 L.karles LEnA: nd in hat