Evening star., 1927-10-16
REVIEWS OF AUTUMN BOOKS
The Life Story of Vcount Bryce by John Mcintyre
Louis Brom6eld Robert Hchens and
E. Barrineton.

pursuit. fulfillment, safety, weariness,
Indifference, dislike-and probable ha-
tired. Such is the formula, except
where certain natures take on en-
durance in place of active hatred.
All love tales are built upon this
plan, though the most Of them stop
in midair, so to speak, out Of def
erence to a timid PUBLIC that cries
for happy ever after"
e. Barrington's new novel Is just
another one of these. carried through.
however, to its inevitable conclusion.
The writer has a tremendous advan-
tage In her material. Napoleon and
Josephine. Here is theme that
stirs perennial interest, and to IL the
author has bent the best of her art.
1t seems to be e. P~-rington's mis-
sion, that of briLss3g historic char
acters back to life, and to them
she indubitably does give vitality
and human behaviors that make ap-
peal by virtue of their agreement
with our own human behaviors. Spe-
cially mindful is she here of the in
dividual character and personality of
Napoleon. Equally respectful is she
also to the known facts OF time and
place that fostered the genius Of the
great warrior. Well set historically
as 1t is, the romance concerns itself
chiefly with Napoleon's passion for
josephine, with the tragic outcome
Of this illusion under the greater
passion Of Napoleon's ambition. A
great love story-one OF the greatest,
quite truthfully set out without ex.
cuse or extenuation, and without beg
ging the question for the sake Of the
happy ending.
THE WAY OF SINNERS. BY F. r.
Buckley. New York: The Gen.
tury Co.
THIS romance sets the reader back
- into the Middle Ages. That IL,
he must go back there for all the
elements that make UP the setting
of situation. Walled towns. war
ring overlords. combatants in shield
and buckler. armored steeds. hand
to-hand fighting in narrow streets or
in the wild countryside, robbery on
every side, the abduction OF lovely
| ladies-and all the rest Of the me-
! dieval to-do splash these pages with
bright colors and shadow them with
| dark deeds. In the midst is the
| young man who enlists immediate
| interest and holds it throughout. For
this youth is a winner, moving along
and UP, from shop boy to leadership
| In an Italy that was devoted to fight
| ing, with cause or without as the
case might be. A lover, too, some
times. and a winner then also. And
one follows him because this author
makes his way a Turing one. whether
danger or dalliance be the immediate
goal. For F. r. Buckley has the
gift of wit and wisdom set. to words
| that stir to enjoyment what little OF
| wit and wisdom the reader himself
possesses. 1t really matters not at
all what such a writer's theme may
be, for he carries the lure in his own
approach, in the way he has with
| life and with humans. Some one has
said this is a modern story, except
for its trappings of medievalism. a
story of success and getting along
| in the world. Well. may be so. Good
enough as it is, though; real treat,
| even though it be held to the far
past which 1t portrays.
| y X X y
THE BACCHANTE. BY Robert Hich-
ems. author of 1.-THE Garden of Al
lah," etc. New York: Cosmopoli-
| tan Book Co.
| d OBERT HICHENS here makes use
AN of brief stage career to project
| woman in the two roles held by
everybody in his swift transit through
(Continued on Fifteenth Pa0e1