Evening star., 1928-01-29
IDA GILBERT MYERS.


AN AMERICAN LADY IN PARIS
l328-l329. The Diary of Mrs. John
Mayo. Edited by Mary Mayo Cren-
shaw Illustrated Boston: though
ton, Miffiin Co
tn HIS all took place q hundred
years ago when going to Paris
was not the short and lux
Il uriOus sailing that ii Is now
adayS. And In such difference
between the two out-farngs lie both
the value and the charm of this diary
OF an American lady In Paris Through
out the bright record, too, 1t is the
spirit Of contrast that goes along to the
great advantage OF the story itself.
pointing out at every turn the changes
that have taken place In the century
span that separates the writer and the
reader. Here at the outset Is a running
description OF the packet ship In which
the voyage was made OF the fellow
passengers. OF the ship intercourse and
the diversions set up TO shorten the
monotonous hours at sea. No sooner
is land reached. however and the road
to Paris taken than one begins to
realize that the lady is outside the
common run of travellers, certainly in
this day II not in that one Here Is
displayed a keen interest in the country,
in its beautiful historic buildings its
cathedralS and fortresses, in the gem
eral sum of life lying IN between the
coast and the city Of SoiOurn. And so
1t is throughout. There Is good sub
stance here. blended easily and invit-
ingly with the purely social experiences
that welcomed to Paris this American
lady OF a hundred years ago. The
first days In Paris" are Just about
what yours Were-that somewhat blur
red seizure OF everything all at once,
after which came the SLOW sorting out
and proper placing OF points OF interest.
of men and OF matters generally A
most interesting characteristic OF the
record Is that its spirit is so completely
that OF the present as to impart TO the
reader a sense OF looking-nOt back
ward save for superficial unmpor-
tances-but straight across into The
face Of Paris as 1t is today, A sort OF
communion OF the spirit so TO speak
a something more lasting than a mere
hand touch Most contemporaneouS IN
effect is this delightful story that was
lived so long ago and yet is so COM
pletely Of our own immediate outlook
and attitude Above the chronicle IL
self. and because of its imperishable
youth. stands the Writer--young, keen
right beside the reader-and this is
the best effect OF an altogether de-
lightfui hour With that American
Lady"
TARBOE: The Story OF a Life. By
Gilbert Parker. author of The
Right OF Way" etc. Wood cuts bv
Harry cimino, New York Harper
a. Brothers.
QUITE handful Of years ago Gilbert
~ Parker. then experimenting in the
art of novel writing travelled through
the West in pursuit of the experience
which later turned Ia such good ac-
count in the hands OF the story teller
/, was in that period that he made
the acquaintance OF Frank Tarboe.
French and Indian haif-breed. gambler.
fighter with Custer, and. withal. man
OF singularly persuasive charm. Frank
Tarboe. IL appears, has through the
intervening Years stayed with the
author. One of those persistent per-
SonalitieS that refuse 10 be dismissed
along with the great majority OF for
gotten friends. So here By wav Of
portrait. incident adventure. Frank
Tarboe. gambler takes his place as
hero Of romance. Better yet takes his
place as the center OF Geographic
study wherein complex human nature
Is revealed through the incidents %
everyday life In surroundings OF pc
culiar quality The atmosphere of the
older West is here strongly projected
Scenes drawn from the islands OF the
Pacific. from New Zealand Australia.
and Paris combine 10 picture the per-
sonality OF this likable gambler and
ex-convlct Man of honor. too. in cer-
tain ways else had he pursued the
lovely girl who made no secret O! her
preference for him Chivalrous is the
term for that, Is 1t not? And that is
what Tarboe was~~chivalrouS. In spots.
intelligent ali through, honest in his
own way Gilbert Parker tells the
story OF this man SQuarely and--o'
course--in a general tone Of disap-
proval But the man is bigger than
the law-breaker here, so. io the end
he holds a Arm place In the heart Of
his biographer. as he is equally bound
to enlist the sympathy and friendship
of readers generally
MOONLADY BY Upton Close. author
of The Revolt oi Asia" etc New
York q. p, PutnamS Sons.
n 0tlNSI the backRfuuno OF modern
China Upton Close projects Moon
lady" The story of q beautiful native
girl who In her own nature emoodIgS
the aspirations Of young China itself
toward a new lie of greater national
freedom For a long time this country
has been the preoccupation ot Upton
cloSr Editor OF the PekinS Daily hr
came into close touch with the multi
tudlnous affairs ot China its pollticS
government economies. IFS relations
with other countries and out u. all
these. its current unrest embodied tn
protests and revolutions and civil war
II is from such intimate knowledge tina!
Mr. Close has already drawn a history
ot China and tranSlationS OF its poetry.
these In their WAY as distinguished aS
his recent The Revolt III Asia And
here such knowledge, woven into
compact and definite pattern, serves a.
background FOR the story OF beautiful
Chinese girl "Moonlady To give the
story It's nlll value the author provides
contrast by way ~ n Nouns woman NJ
the West and between the tWs,, The
man whom they hth luVr Anywhere
the world over, the situation would
hiring IN the surface thr dent nS Qt those