Evening star., 1933-04-30

mento. parents of Maria and managers Of the
canteen for the Big Miguel. Marco should have
married Mama Rose years before and probably
would have done so if she had ever thought Of
insisting on it and they had ever had time to
consider It, Her indignation bursts FORTH how
ever, when, after all their children are grown
up and he has gone into politics beyond his
depth, he marries a rich widow, cousin OF Tomas
Romero the Liberal boss. Mama RoSe~and
Maria stage a scandalous scene at the church
door in Santiago, which ends with a shower Of
cobblestones thrown through the door after the
wedding party. Man Wants But Little" Is q
family tale in its nucleus, but it expands into
something far larger-a broad picture of Cuban
peasant life. There are glimpses Of revolutions
and banditry, more of local politics; but In
general the peasants are interested only in their
own little personal fortunes, the metal boxes
OF coins under their beds, the small bits Of
additional land they able to buy their
births, which are frequent; their marriages,
which are incidental; their deaths, which are
loudly bewailed and quickly accepted as inevi-
table; their family quarrels, which are one q
their most constant entertainments. jose u
told by an American going through the country
that there Is war in Europe-"not in your
country In France, in Russia" He replies
simply and without excitement: "Oh, those
places No. hadn't heard Of that" M.
Wright has seen much of Cuba on horseback,
company bungalows and canteens, and both
rural and city hotels He has put his rich ex-
perience into his book.
THE MADONNA OF SEVEN MOONS. By
Margery Lawrence. Indianapolis: he
Bobbs- Merrill Co.
GIUSEPPE LABARDI is wealthy wine mer-
~ chant of Rome and Maddalena is his beau
tiful devout wife, whose icy exterior conceals
unexpected hres. DR.. Oliver Costello. English
doctor resident in Rome, is both the friend and
the puzzled observer Of the couple The return
OF Pima, daughter Of the Labardis, from Eng
land, where she has been for many years At
school. precipitates many difficulties and irri-
tatons. Maddalena is 100 per cent Italian, and
not even modern Italian but almost a relic Of
the Old World. Pima despises her mothers
taste In food, clothes, household management,
occupations, manners-everything- shows
her scorn with unconcealed arrogance Cow
ertly while apparently engrossed in her own
concerns, the girl studied her mother, this
strange new type. this strayed saint who had
given her, vivid, Slangy, twentieth century Pima
birth, and in the studying discovered love and
pity wonder and q growing fear.' Like Dr.
Costello she senses something undiscovered tn
Maddalena
With disconcerting shrewdness and consid-
erable mpudence Pima sets about discovering
the mystery of her mothers life. The secret,
when it comes out, is terrible enough and has
to do with the Sign Of Seven Moons and
Rosanna and Nino, handsome Florenttne
apache In spite of its mystery, this is not
primarily mystery story. 1t is a weird and
ingenious tale of psychia.ric abnormality with
very real characters and an agreeable Italian
background. The writing both description and
dialogue, harmonizes so well with the narrative
that 1t conveys the reader directly to Rome
and the luxurious house of the Labardis near
the Pincian Gate. Interest in the tragic
Maddalena her distraught husband Giuseppe
DR.. Costello, who is the savior of them all, and
the young people, Pima Eve "a young mani,
Jimmy and Nesta Logan, is sustained at q
high point throughout