The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1927-06-27
Nancy HOyt;s NelO Book, "J7nkind Star, Soon
10 Be Out; Washington Friends Interested
Youthful Author Now in
Paris, Apropos, It Is
Said, of Divorce
By JEAN ELIOT

LIVER since Nancy Hoyt let 1t be
~ known that she was at work
on a new novel. her friends in
Washington. and those literary
friends she made through her spon.
taneous and delightful Round.
about" have been looking forward
with eagerness to its appearance.
Now patience is about to be re-
warded, for ''Unkind Star" Alfred
A. Knopf, publisher. viii be in the
hands Of the booksellers by July q.
The name was suggested by a
quotation from Edwin Muir's eve
Moderns''-"Life was then so full
OF pain, death as a rule so sudden
and unforeseen, that the few who
were fortunate enough to escape
violent death had yet to toll in.
cessantly to retain footing on
This unkind star
Dedicated to Menclen
Miss Hoyt, to Judge from Round:
about" understands pretty well
World-or at any rate in the little
corner thereof in which her lines
are cast-and writes Of 1t with con-
She's a romanticist. but a sophisti-
cate, and her first novel was highly
praised by the critics, among them
H. L. Mencken. OF Roundabout"
the New Yorker said, Were all
Younger Generation romances as
spontaneous and genuine, as bub-
bling and flavorsome, and. putting
IT crudely, as decent as Nancy
Hoyt's Roundabout" this depart
nent would like them much better.
She writes with continuous verve,
q distinctive touch, and remarkable
allusiveness.T
The new volume is dedicated to
II. l.. Mencken, ''first critic Of
the republic from whose hands /
was lucky enough to receive my
first rejection slip; with gratitude
and admiration"
This tells a tale, for Mencken
was the first to recognize Nancy
Hoyt's talent, to print some of
her short stories and sketches in
"The Smart Set" which he was
then editing, and to encourage her
to try her hand at novel writing.
In Paris-For the Usual Reason
In private life Nancy Hoyt is
still Mrs. Gerald Wynne. Wynn, al
though she Is now in Paris and is
said to be seeking a divorce from
the young Englishman whom she
married in London last September.
Friends predicted that the marriage
would not last, for the gifted but
unstable Hoyts are not given to
staying married. But the break
came even earlier than the most
pessinistic predictions. due, it was
said, to a clash Of temperaments.
And but a few months after their
return to Washington last autumn,
the couple separated.
Nancy Hoyt Wynn is the daugh-
ter of Mrs. Henry M. Hoyt, OF
Washington, and her late father
was prominent in public life in the
Roosevelt and Taft Administrations.
A sister. Elinor Wylie, has already
won fame as a poet and novelist.
Although much of her work is
''caviare to the general" the know
ing ones hail her as one Of the
most brilliant Of the little group OF
modern writer's.
The younger sister is also by
way Of being an occasional poet
and I've heard some admiring com
ment on verses by Nancy -aoyt
which appeared recently in the
New Yorker.
JUNIOR HOOvERS
IN TOWN FOR SUMMER
Mr.. and Mrs. Herbert Hoover,
r., who have been in Cambridge
where Mr.. Hoover has been taking
postgraduate work at Harvard
University, have come to Washing
ton, accompanied by their small
daughter, Miss Peggy Ann Hoover,
and are at the home Of the Sec
rotary Of Commerce and Mrs.
Hoover to remain through the sum-
Mer.
The Minister of the Netherlands
and Nine. van Royen will go to
New York tomorrow to meet their
son, Robert Dudley Van Royen,
who is arriving on the Homeric
from Holland. ]. H. Van Royen,
another son, Is with them. The
legation will be established at Bev-
erly Farms for the summer.
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