Evening star., 1932-08-21
% IDA GIIBRI MYERZ
W|hen the Bozeery Mas Young and Cay-7he
Conoersiom of the Farm-And the Book
Leagues august Choice.


she cannot war on animal life, nor build pyra-
mids nor destroy forests, nor enslave helpless
peoples nor impose tyrannies upon the weak
nor make discoveries far afield, nor man battle
ships and other piratical craft. She cannot do
deep intellectual divings. nor can she bring
high schemes to issue. You see Except for
progeny the female Is just about total loss.
But necessity k the mother Of invention
And around this clear liability a system of
make weights was invented to dispose of the
female child by assigning to her value not
her own. So dowers, marriage settlements,
business opportunities and family prestige on
the distaf side were thrown into the matri-
monial scale for balance. Even the pretty
modern fancy of "hope chest and shower"
is unconscious bid" relics of the same old
problem An elaborate ritual of courtship and
marriage dipped In the diplomacy of Machia-
veln himself evolved from that original dilemma
set by the girl baby.
To step aside for a minute. Within the past
few years a striking change has come into this
particular situation. The war, the automooiie
and prohibition. in a combination of certain
effects have worked It, Nowadays the maiden
no longer waits for Prince Charming to appear,
for Iochinvar to come riding out of the West.
Not any more. Instead she is as likely to go
put after boy friend as he is to come in for her
She has battered that sweet little home idea
past recognition and has broken family
the floor. And all this is quite too bad. But
she will get over it. and. meanwhile, that young
female is learning things. Work, real con-
facts the joy of efficiency and good sense,
sturdy friendships with both men and women,
direct ways and straight dealings. Her strictly
female capacity is gaining enormously for
future motherhood by the releasements and
expansions of the present.
This aside was due to my mind as both well
for q ~ Tnu
To give fair perspective and good credbilty
to the tale Miss Delafield moves the matter
back into the late years of the last century. In
sum- it is the story of Monica Ingram. The
story of every girl of her time and class
girl absorbed in dreams of getting married, in
the reality of attractive young men for COM
pany in long talks with girl friends on this
engrossing subject. In veiled talks with her
mother astute lady of many plans and designs.
In good time arrives the coming out" cere-
mony. first publicity move for the coming CAM
paign. After that social events, into which
mothers carefully herd desirable young men
for possible solution of the great disposal prob
lem. The first of these males chosen does not
"take" nor the second even the third.
And pretty Monica is losing a shade of her
bloom, a degree of eager enthusiasm. The old
wit is bit laggard, the old shining look a
little dimmed. You remembers. You have seen
it all Monica is clearly on her way and des-
perate means must be summoned to avert from
Monica the tragedy of spinsterhood. First
aid-the good man." Oh! and OH
Miss Delafield has done it superbly No,
not too much here and even more than too
much there Selecting, rejecting from the
flush material at hand, dressing each attitude
and social rite in the fashion of its own day,
holding each shred fast to the dominant note
of the whole-a note as sharp and demanding
this minute as it in that day-arrangng
Ill % f,,II rrt,rr hAr1 Mall
what is it? Is it satire. as it is being named?
I do not know. I do know that it is biting
bit of life, tragic aspect of life, worked
out so directly and in such miSerly expendi-
ture of means as to leave in hand a stark
specimen drawn from many experiments on
the disposal of that female child. Am I to
laugh over this? I cannot smile. Not even
over the Swiftian hand that SO cleverly set the
picture. Oh, admire the genius of the writer.
And here pay deep devor to it, And that is
the place to stop. For it Is the quality of this
workmanship, and not sympathy for the fate
of leftover girl babies, that commands atten-
ton here. 1t is the artist that is uppermoSt
And here she is! Here. clearly. she is
And the Book League of America names "A
Good Mans Love- as its choice of fiction for
this month, August.
REVIEWED BY c. E. NELSON
HAVE NO REGRETS BY Lieutenant Bringot.
E. P. Dutton & Co, Inc, New York.
THE title of this strange life Of a diplomat
vagrant' is somewhat misleading. At first
glance, one might suspect that it would be
quite revealing story of intrigue secret in
ternationaI affairs, and, perhaps, few incidents
of the heart as they are commonly called.
But the reader is doomed to disappointment,
for the writer confines himself, in q sketchy
manner, to detailing his own bravery and COM
pliments received on the same
However there is no getting away from the
fact that the Swiss diplomat met with a
series of adventures, some of them quite sordid
For instance, he spent considerable OF his
young Misunderstanding to his own state
ments-in various jails. In most instances, his