Evening star., 1933-02-28


BELINDA GROVE: BY Helen Ashton.
author Of "Dr. Serocold," etc. New
YORK: Doubleday, Doran g. Co.,
Inc.
Belinda Grove is house, an in
vention of the author for which she is
TO be given high merit. 1t is not only
a house, but it is an old house and
haunted house. Miss Ashton has built
Belinda Grove in an out-of-the-way
wooded tract not too far from London
in the year 1915. and has given it an
exceptionally varied succession of occu-
pants from that year up to the time
of its destruction in 1882 1t is difiicult
to say which Is more interesting, the
house itself or the family groups and
individuals who kept it alive through
more than a century
|. Actually the story Is the history Of
the life and death of the impressive
mansion first occupied by a notorious
gambler and presided over by Belinda
Flower, an actress and mistress of
Lord Alciston. 1t is during the short
tenancy Of this couple that particu-
larly dastardly murder is committed,
and from then to the end of its days
the terrace of Belinda Grove Graded
the ghost of Capt Martlet, whose gentle
and kindly appearances at many critical
moments bore its influence upon the
lives of those who saw it.
1t is not infreQuent that the fore
sight of a builder is thwarted by un-
favorable developments. Many palatial
homes erected in exclusive neighbor-
hoods mark the beginning of de-
cadence rather than progress. Such is
the fate of Belinda Grove After a few
years of occupancy by families less ele-
CANT and pretentious than the murder
Gus Lord Alciston, Belinda Grove suf-
common herd, each stage of possession
being a bit lower in caste, until it
has in turn seen the housing of artists.
doctors. writers. fat dwellers, fake for
tune tellerS and possibly German spies.
1t was used as a dancing studio. dis
pensary of medicines, lunatic asylum
and Aim studio
This story of Belinda Grove and the
lives of those who knew love and
beauty, hopelessness and tragedy be-
meath its roof is beautifully romantic
by the author 1t is worthy successor
to "Dr. Serocold," which was so widely
read and liked when it appeared in this
country some months ago.
X X X
house. New York: Doubleday, Doran
g. Co., Inc.
In his review of 'Mulliner Nights"
Cuppy gives a delineation Of p. G.
Wodehouse to the Anxious Reader" +"
which answers the question as to how
the author manages to keep on pro-
ducing and doing 1t better each time.
He says:
ITO employ technical term or two.
Mr.. Wodehouse's books are the result
of peculiar combination of what psy-
biologists often term the unconscious,
the pre-conscious and the conscious
minds variously acting and interacting
with the infantile fixations. cathexis,
ambivalence and occasional table,
spoonfuls OF buck-u-uppo, tonic
sometimes administered to elephants
just before tiger hunts and to bishops
on their night off. And all Of these
gadgets have been in the Wodehouse
family for generations, ridiculously easy
to the masters hand"
If all that explanation of how 1t is
done is true, then no wonder he does 1t
This volume is a collection of those de-
lectab,e short stories told by Mr.. Null
liner in the bar parlor of the Anglers
Rest. and includes nine of the most
delightful yarns that have come from
the lips of Mr.. Mulliner through the
pen Of Mr.. Wodehouse. Each one of
them Is juicy and delicious, and it will
not be surprising If the pleased grin
on the face of the reader broadens
into genial roar that may startle the
family until it Is learned that the cause
of the outburst Is Mr.. Mulliner's rela-
ton OF the "Story Of Webster" "The
Voice from the Past" Cats Will Be
Cats" or any other Of the nine yarns
in "Mulliner Nights" This collection
Is Mr.. Wodehouse at his best.
X
MY BOY FRANKLIN: As told by Mrs.
James Roosevelt to Isabel Leighton
and Gabrielle Forbush. New York:
Ray Long and Richard r. Smith.
The mother Of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, proud of the son who has
risen to the highest Office which the
American people can bestow upon a