Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-23

Lines true and human ana Understandable
The characters filling in to create that history
are few and outstanding and melike. At the
center is Sir John and his companionS-au of
them made of the stuff of those English days.
all vivid and immediate in their behaviors and
outlook. A good piece of work-a planned
and inspired projection, whether it be q novel
or q built road or an adequate and beautiful
structure Of any sort, is an inspiration to an.
This novel Is of that sort. Its author, slip
Of . girl to look at, holds readers in her debt
for an unusual romance, for q vivid picture
Of England in another day and circumstance.
EVERY MOTHERS SON. BY Norman Lind
say. New York: The Cosmopolitan Book
Corporation.
A DRAMA of adolescence. No doubt you are
tired Of that breed of story or maybe dis
turbed. But, adolescence is a part of life and
the novel-so we are told-exists primarily to
reflect life. So, here we go with Every Mothers
Son"
It is different from the common run of
record upon its theme. The majority Of novels
Of adolescence are made by college professors,
suffering the limitations of their origin. This
one Is of secular stripe, so to Speak-unaca-
demic, un-tutorial in spirit and projection. The
plain story of group of lusty youngsters, boys
and girls, milling around within life, not know
ing what any Of it is about yet, they them
selves under impulsions and urgings suficient
to turn the world over If applied to that enter
prise. period of abysmal Self-ignoFance, Of
tremendous propuSions. Within the group Is
Robert Piper, a lad whom we all know. He
dreams dreams and sees visions. He Is going
to college. He is going to lend q hand In
setting wrong things right when the day comes.
Upon him, upon his sisters and the rest, life
lays . hand, lightly at first, and then more in
siStently as life has o way of doing All the
elders are 50 respectable that nature itself
terrifies them and the behaviors Of the young
folks render them helpless with fear and ap-
prehension. So. ahead the boys and girls 60.
doing their beSt-not much OF a best, but one
that has had no real help from the paragonz
ahead Of them who have so soon forgotten their
own youth and who therefore cannot under
stand. Here is true picture, an honest po1-
trayl. Because Of that the novel is both good
art and good gospel. For. through the 100 per
cent Of clear vital force lying at the roots Of
the human, this story carries a strong out
looking conclusion. just as the lad. odds an
against him, more often than otherwise sur
wives triumphantly that unsuccored purgatory
Of youth, adolescence. Strong honest, dramatic
and impressive this outstanding record Of
young folks all over the world
STAYING WITH RELATIONS By Rose
Macaulay, author Of Told by an Idiot" etc.
New York. Horace Liveright.
THE title seems 30 cover q situation made
expressly for the special gift of Rose
Macaulay. Here Is the gist Of the matter. A
to stay with relations recently moved into thMt
quarter. No doubt material" as well as kim
ship is in her mind. It is hard for the tribe
to get far from copy.
Promptly the StOTy-making heginA 1t sets
out with the gusto and vigor expected from
this roznanceR. But in no very long time, 10
becomes clear that something is the matter.
What Is It? It seems to me that the trouble
lies-M II can be called trouble-in the fact
that Rose Macaulay decided to incorporate two
lines Of work where but one would have been
q really triumphant outcome. Not satisfied
with accounting for the family affairs, COM
plicated by criss-cross love episode and other
frailties Of the flesh, this writer decides 10
hinge the romance upon Mayan investigation
and history. A superficial TODD, depending
upon rival plunderings Of Magyar remains. That
domain, essentially scientific and historic, h
one Of deep interest and Importance. The IN
ventOr Of novels, except the one-tn-a-million,
win do well TO leave It alone for some time 70
come. In this romance 1t forms an uncOn-
vincing brand Of adventure. And moreOvex,
the strain Of it appears TO take away from
Rose Macaulay a part Of her real divination Of
the human a part of her sharp appraisals Of
men and women together. The people with
whom she has to do "the relations" are less
sharply defined and projected than are the
characters Of this authors usual consideration.
Not one Of her best tales-or so it seems to me.
So, out loud, I've been wondering over it, with
the tentative conclusion that too much was
undertaken, with q part of the enterprise quite
outside the authors practiced field.
THE OPENERS OF THE GATE. By L. Adams
Beck, author of 1.-THE Garden Of Vision"
etc. New York: Cosmopolitan Book Cor
poration.
THESE short stories-1O by count-are tied
together through a common source Of
mystery. Now there are degrees Of mystery.
Everything that we do not understand b
usually bundled into this common receptacle
shaped to supernatural beliefs and uses. IL b
not with these SuperstitionS that the tales IN
hand hova RI - Rather with the mite "a