Evening star., 1934-05-23
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margaret Germond.

WITHIN A YEAR. BY Faith Bald
win. Illustrations by Harry N.
Anderson. New York: Farrar g.
Rinehart, Inc.
Four novelettes, intensely human in
| their closeness to the realities and the
uncertainties which have beset the
people Of these United States in re-
cent months, are presented in this
new volume by one of Americas most
! popular writer's of timely fiction.
Staged against the crazy-quilt back
drop of the kaleidoscope events which
crowded the calendar from March 4,
| 1888, to March, 1884, each Of the four
stories is grounded In some one Of the
outstanding features of those unfor-
gettable twelve months which marked
| crisis in the affairs of millions OF
| people.
Under the title Of Bank Holiday"
the first story is dramatic narrative
| of the mental and emotional reactions
of the officials and employees OF a
great insurance corporation; Of the
effect of the unprecedented occasion
upon their families; of the alternating
tides of courage and despair which
| welled out of the chaotic confusion
during those bewildering days of bank
| closures; of the comradship and new
| er understanding between business
executives and the young men and
young women whose devotion to duty
and whose personal hardships had
never before been fully appreciated OF
known. Every grade of social and
| financial status is represented in the
group, which is typical Of the ag-
gregation Of humanity which halted
at the crossroads on March 4. 1888
The second story is entitled Friday
to Monday" and deals with the men,
bers of a weekend house party In
July, 1888. Such parties in any year
are likely to produce all sorts of happy
and unhappy situations. but last July
people who formerly had been care
free and purse-free were making a
gigantic struggle for foothold in the
i quicksands Of economic instability,
and nerves were strained to the
breaking point. Individual financial
conditions had created emotional con-
| flicts calculated to doom the house
party of the George Washburnes on
Long Island as a failure. The people,
their habits, their dispositions and
their cross-purposes and triangles in
love affairs were the same. The diff
ference was in the loss Of their sense
Of proportion in the world of stark
realities which had replaced the para
disc of grand illusions.
Happy New Year" relates the
events Of single evening, hastened
to climax by the general sense of
elation that was apparent in the
countless celebrations which marked
the ushering in of the year 1894 An
unrelated group Of people celebrating
in the same public party are sud-
denly reminded of what the passing
year has meant to them. Riding in
on the tide of new hope, the incoming
year was bringing a firmer faith in
the substantial foundations of ma
tional and personal life. Jessica Frost,
who IN rash moment of loneliness.
accepted the invitation of a stranger
to join him in New Years eve cele-
bration. inwardly reviewed a lifetime
| Of disappointment and unhappiness in
that moment of pause during the
program. On the stroke of midnight
che must decide which of two widely
differing roads she would rather
travel. Would fear of further disillu-
sionment and bitter experiences again
plight all Of hope for happiness; or
would she courageously make a momen-
tous decision and face the year 1884
with renewed faith in the integrity
and honesty Of the human race?
In Sweepstakes" the interest CEN
tiers in an interrelated group of peo-
pie ranging from Mrs. Howard Sims
Nichols to the servants in her house
hold and extending to the operators
in beauty parlor and other associa-
| tions of non-social character. The
wife OF an immensely wealthy man,
Sandra Nichols had the reputation of
being a tight-wad and, knowing it.
suffered the tortures of its sting. But
Sandra had no money. She was one
OF those unenviable and almost pa
thetic wives whose benighted hus-
| bands place no limit upon their credit,
but who hold tenaciously to the belief
that woman should have no money
to spend. 1t was, therefore, after con-
| siderable thought that Sandra souan-
dered practically every penny she
owned on the small price of a sweep
stakes ticket on the great classic which
was to be staged in Ireland in March.
Two dollars and a half was a lot of
money for her to gamble away, but If
she should win? Freedom from the
tyranny Of a moneyless existence, and
freedom from the unhappiness of life
without love would be the incalculaby
rich reward Sandra's ticket repre-
sented a winner, and the total return
on her small investment made pos
sible the freedom which she craved.
But what of the sweetness Of liberty
for a woman without the intelligence
to face its handicaps and disappoint-
mentS?
X
SATAN'S CIRCUS. BY Lady Eleanor