Evening star., 1933-05-16
NEW BOOKS
80 AT RANDOM
M. C.

BLUE MEADOWS. BY May Stanley.
Boston: Little. Brown & CO.
High up on the cliffs Of the coast OF
Maine, in a sheltered cove Of the great
bay, nestles the little village OF Good
haven, where lives Capt. Elijah Bickers,
big, outstanding man. broad and
quiet and slow OF tongue. with far-gaz-
Ing blue eyes, q body strcng as . rocky
in vain," and at the age OF thirty mas
ter Of the fast and seaworthy fishing
schooner Va,halla.
When Lige first saw Abagail Hosmer
she was standing on the front porch
of her uncle's dwelling, looking out
toward the sea. He knew 1T once that
he loved her, and two weeks later they
were married. Lige did not know that
his young bride hated the sea. or that
she regarded the neighborly and sturdy
villagers a. heathen. 1t was, therefore,
a blow to his happiness when he learned
that Abagail had no intention OF max
ing the big, cid white house on the
cli1 her permanent home. -Four gen.
erations OF Bickers men had gone out
to sea from that house, and four gen.
erations of Bickers women fPd lived
under its roof, gazing out over the roll
ing blue meadows Of the North Allan
tic, waiting and watching for their men
to return to its shelter.
Abagail had been born inland and
lived inland until she came to Good
haven to care for Uncle Danl Hosmer,
rheumatic and grabbed, though phi
losopher Of sorts. When she married
Lige 1t was with a definite plan IN her
own mind that she would make him
sell his holdings, take him inland and
turn him into farmer. But. much as
he loved her, Lige could not give up
his heritage. His livelihood, his hap
piness, his very life itself depended
upon salt water. He tried desperately
to make her happy; but; as Uncle Danl
50 aptly puts 1t: Trouble is that you're
land and Lise is sea. They don't mix.
Never have-and never will"
Rebelling against fate VIII h
thwarted her own ambition. Abby de-
votes herself to plans for her son. He
will hate the sea, as she does. and he
will be q great preacher. But instead
of the expected son daughter Is born,
and in this child all Of the mother 8
fear and hatred Of the sea are intensi-
ned. AS youngster she adores her
father, but maturity brings realization
Of her hatred for the things which
mean life to him, and she seeks full
fillment of her own ambitions and those
of her mother in marriage to mission
ary, with whom she gees to the DakotaS
to live
Born in the prairies, and educated so
Carefully that he may never know what
even a small body Of water looks like,
Marthas son Is to be the great preacher
Of her dreams. Not the kindly, helpful,
loving shepherd which her husband
strives to be, but the thunderous, fire.
splitting variety who will scare the peo-
pie into religion.
Torn between love and admiration for
his father and an unconquerable fear
of his mother. David grows to a man
hood filled with doubts and misgivings,
but strictly to the pattern laid out by
his mother. He Is a model son. He Is
studying for the ministry. he is being
engineered by his mother into marriage
with the daughter Of the wealthiest
man in Glendale. he knows nothing
tions Of his ancestors-and then across
q span Of forty years and fifteen hun
dred miles Of territory the sea reaches
out to claim its own.
Around these four individuals Miss
Stanley has woven one Of the most de-
lightful stories Of recent years about
the fisher-folk Of the rockbound coast
Of the North Atlantic. Lige Bickers is
the central figure in this moving drama,
in which the land and the sea, religion
and the simple. logical philosophy of
those who know and love the briny
blue meadows, are engaged in bitter,
continuous conflict. Other notable
characters in the book are Hannah
Apne Parse. housekeeper for Lige Bick-
ers; Lissie Cation and her daughter Rose
Ellen; Hosea Norton, husband of Mar
tina: Uncle Danl Hosmer. and Manuel
Tay. seeker after buried treasure.
Blue Meadows" creates a desire to
feel and to smell the tang of salt wa
ter and to make the acquaintance of
those neighborly souls of the Good
haven stamp, who understand the roar
Of the waves and the whisper Of the
tides.
COLONEL WATERFORD AND HIS
FRIENDS. BY Gordon Grand, au-
thor Of The Silver Horn" New
York: The Derrydale Press.
Coincident with Washingtons en-
thusiastic enjoyment of Horse Show
week comes this beautifully made-up
companion book to THE Silver Horn" "
It Is Q series Of short tales about Col.
Weatherford and his friends, his neigh
bors and his associates in the horse
country Of New England. There are
tales Of men who own horses. men
who show horses, men who sell and
train horses. and men and women who
NJ o. de- x.1>
of horses and Of hounds. Almost every
yet each tale Is so closely related and
connected that the whole is thor
oughly delightful narrative calculated to
give the utmost pleasure to all lovers
and followers Of horses and hounds.
The volume Is handsomely illus
trated with drawings by j. Alden
Twachtman. and IS incased in an un-
usually attractive binding of red and
gold in library style. 1t is book which
all those who know horses. and dogs,
and men will want to own. for 1t is
replete with the incompatible philoso-
ply of the stable boy, with keen sense
Of appreciation of the common sense
and the manners Of the greatest of all
beasts. and also with q deep under
standing Of the fidelity, the intelligence
and the tireless endurance of hounds
1t is a valuable contribution to the COL
lectors of horse stories. and a worthy
companion to THE Silver Horn," which
made its appearance last year.
X 4
PASCAt'S MILL. BY Ben Ames Will
liams. New York: E. P. Dutton
& Co., Inc.
An old mill that wears ago ceased In
grind Is made the background of this
new novel by one of Americas most
popular f1ctionists. Less than one hun
dred feet from the railroad tracks over
which dozens of trains thunder in the
course Of each twenty-four hours, the
mill is so peculiarly situated that it can
be approached only by horse or on
foot-and by q path that is generally
conceded to be 'the longest four-five
miles you ever saw" Bob Druce came
to know the truth Of that remark be-
fore he reached the mill on an errand
which was to develop into the strang-
est experience Of his career.