Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-30
y IDA GILBERT MYERZ
Il Wide Variety Of Reading Matter for Late
Snmmer-NeqO Story Of Family Life BY
Young Writer Other Fiction.

fiction Nor have the romancers peculiar
capacity for industry with other endowTnents
and endurances of imaginative invention.
wherefore, then this effect Of collaboration SO
complete and perfect at every point that for
the moment at least have, in my own mind,
run away with brilliantly promising young
mans very first novel?
Uneasy over such clear presuming, I cast
about for cause. At that second, the simon
pure theme of the story steps out into the
open. The dilemma evaporates. common
place, expected thing appears. For here is the
story Of the family as such. So. eyerybodys
concern. 1t belongs TO all of us. Not to George
Davis alone. Certainly not to me, except in
common.
Not quite so simple as this. though. Family
life as q tyranny-indubitably as a tyranny
such the motive that projects and shapes and
animates the chronicle. Instantly hosts Of
parental benevolences protest that theme as
both profane and false. And armies Of filial
supporters augment the denial and deepen the
protest. A few do concede a purely satanic
art In the Epecious portrayal Of this youthful
and daring author.
The furry gives way to measure Of seren-
tty, as al f1urrieS do We know then that the
boy is right That aside from It's granted
worth to both individual and society, the fam
ny is-and We know it to be-often, place
OF quite familiar rivalries jealouSies, prefer
ences here and impositions there. place,
frequently, Of unwise and crippling authority.
All this mind YOU along the way Of much that
Is not merely necessary, but of more that is
both clearly beautiful and benefcent So let
the fellow alone. Long enough at any rate TO
find out what he has made Of this first novel,
this novel Of the family as vicious overload.
Grandfather opens the domestic drama. A
vivid, odd little figure. Likable, puzzling, pa
thetic. Obviously something long ago hap
pened to grandfather. Something long and
steady and in the end, devastating. But al
most at once here grandfather dies out Of his
difficulty. We all go to his funeral. And that
funeral Is symbol It Is the sign and the
promise of straight American brand Of novel
Every American reader has been to that funeral
hundred times, has managed dozens Of them.
II is an institution OF set pattern and inviola-
bic procedure. Grandfather Is a symbol too
His immediate ONCE, ct this exact point how
ever, Is to pitch the key and set the rhythm
Of this family record About al the outstand-
ing role that grandfather ever had
For this Is grandmotheris story. It began
the moment she was born, getting her ready
Tor George Davis, years and years after, to
clap into . modern novel The masterful
female who patterns the entire family to suit
herself, kneading and shaping and dabbing its
various members into conformity with herself
Here Is a novel OF old folks. 1t had to be
just that. in order to demonstrate in the flesh
the handiwork Of grandmother. family Of
sons and daughters married with children Of
their own. A happy family. Grandmother Is
80 wonderful" soft and plant woman,
But gentle, all gentle in locks and voice and
feminine droopingS. Drawing out devotiong
that do not exist. Shaping conduct that insists
the time and nature Of these children, Of these
men and Women-you know, perfectly this
situation, though you are likely to deny that
it exists.
Wen, just for little stretching of the mind.
suppose you look into George Davis work with
this idea. drama Of real life Not doubt.
Clean-cut as a piece OF work Made to flIl its
Plant in re infra
running IN its action. Taking its heights and
Depths boldly. It's vital forces its men and
women, are alive. Maybe more than they
might have been without grandmother Ger
taanly different and, by that difference not
themselves. Grandmother, instead Eunaor. a
little grim, keeps step with the daily incidents
OF tne household So intimate so hornely is
the source Of this humor and its play that one
laughs aloud repeatedly-and his own laugh is
grim, TOO. The boy is SO cleverly n-seein1 so
thriftily possessed Of the right means of ex-
preston, that there is no denying him, either
as sitter-in on life or as artist In bringing life
into the open
And what, pray. does this title mean II
grandmother has the whole family locked fast
inside herself? Why, one son. years before
escaped Went away to California to live him
self. The story ends as he is on a return visit
nome, opening the door for one Of the grand
sons, uneasy restless and vaguely OWNING, TO
make getaway before it SNAPS shut again.
THE FLAME ON ETHRDoVA. BY Hector
Bolitho, author Of Judith Silver" New
York: D. Appleton & Co.
1.-THE Valley of Ethirdova was spacious and
quiet. The mists rose and formed q roof
stretching from hill to hili. 50 that the valley
was like a cast chamber. wisps OF mist still
chung to the heather and in some places there
were pools, deeply stained by the peat, 80 that
they were like polished tortoise shell There
were IL houses in the valley bat the people
might have been dead for all the movement
they made The smoke from the chimneyg was