Evening star., 1934-10-10
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margaret Cermond.

Kyle. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-
Merrill Co.
The colossal selfshness of mother
and the tragic effect it had upon the
life of her daughter is the theme OF
this unusual novel, which dates from
the present time back to 1888. Begin
ming a story from the point at which
1t would logically be supposed to end,
and working backward through two
generations is extraordinary in itself,
but the very nature and essence of
this account of the life of Ann Brite-
helm not only juStif1es this procedure
but compelS it.
In the prologue, descriptive Of the
! life and surroundings of the heroine
| in the year 1888, Ann is woman OF
middle age, long widowed and living
with Fancy, a lifetime friend, in the
house which had formerly belonged to
! her mother. The struggle to survive
against the nature of this friendship
! has apparently been as great as that
which had been required to survive
| the influence of her mother. Fancy's
husband is also a member of the
| household.
| Glancing backward over her life,
| Ann reviews the events which have
! brought her to the situation which she
knows she must endure to the end of
her days, and back, back, back go her
thoughts through the years which
| should have been at least partly filled
with pleasure and happiness, but
were not.
From 1888 the story turns back
ward to 1919, the year of the death
| of Lady Fielding, selfish, vain, frivo-
! lous mother who demanded every
thing and gave nothing. England in
| 1919 holds her attention for a while,
| then backward again to London and
Brussels in 1903 and 1904, and back
ward still again to England in 1888,
the pattern Of Anne'S life is traced
| to the beginning Of the influence of
the mother and the absorbing nature
! of the friend which combined to af-
| feet so diSastrously the girl whose
capacity for love and friendship had
| been traded upon by those she held
most dear.
The story is too deep and too subtle
for immediate understanding. The
four women who hold the interest are
as widely separated in temperament
and in human reactions as are the
four corners of the world There is
Lady Fielding worldly, pretty and
selfish. and Fancy, who is also world
| ly and possessed of a nature con-
trary to all the laws of kindly devo-
ton. Against these two stand Amy,
an emotional and intense individual
who sees clearly through the web of
jealousy and treachery of both of
them, and Ann, their pitiful victim.
There has already been consider
able discussion among those who
have read the story as to the correct
Interpretation Of the subtleties and
implications with which the story
abounds, and there is likely to be
much more, for it is quite probable
that only few people will be found
who agree on the intent of the author
of this deeply emotional and signifi-
cant story of the destruction of a
! personality.
4 4 X
A LAW UNTO THEMSELVES. BY
Loveday Prior. Boston: Little,
| Brown & Co.
An extraordinary success has been
accorded by the public and by the
literary critics of Great Britain to this
colortul romance of the Middle Ages,
the first novel Of young English
woman who conceived the idea for the
background of her story while at
Strasbourg University.
The glamorOus pageant of life in
| Austria during the thirteenth century
when bands of robbers infested the
land, when kings and their politicians
assembled to wealth and fame at the
expense of their oppressed and help
less subjects, when picturesque trOu-
badourS sang their way through the
cities and villages, when violence and
murder were almost daily occurrences
and when the beauty and extrava-
gance of great state and social events
were exceeded only by the rottennesS
Of the structure which supported them
becomes again a reality in the in
| tensified portrayal by this talented
author of an era in which chivalry
and lawleSsness were inseparable COM
panionS.
Luise, the beautiful daughter of
Ludwig Won Feilmar, is the heroine
| OF the stirring events that crowd the
spectacular period of history Of which
| she is a part. Dominant. merciless
and unconquerable in spirit, she con-
trolls the deStinies of those who fear
| her as well as of those who love and
admire her. She manages large
estates with the skill of an expert
enced landlord, and she successfully
! thwartS the schemes of the laWleSS,
worthless husband to whom she was
! given in marriage when barely more
| than a child by her unwise and am
bilious father. AS indomitable in ad-
verSity as she is superior in success,
to the end of this intensely interesting
and entertaining romance of an age
long past she remains Luise, the vic
toriods.
Miss Prior was born in India and
moved to England when she was six
years old. She obtained her B. A.
degree at oxford and then went to
Strasbourg. She is now only twenty
seven years old and is a teacher of
French in private school at Rugby.
FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY. BY
Irwin S. Cobb. Indianapolis: The
Bobbs-Merrill Co.
Fifteen short stories comprise this
collection of favorites from the vari-
GUS types of recitals by one of the
most versatile of contemporary writ
erS. The volume takes its title from
the first story, and it offers something
to appeal to the taste of every one.
Those who are devotees Of old Judge
Priest will find him on hand as the
hero Of an unusual murder trial. And
there are other tales of crime and
justice. For those who prefer
hearty laugh, several of the humorists
best yarns are among the fifteen
titles, which, in addition to the initial
story, include Balm of Gilead," THE
Crime of the Century" "A Detail of
the Depression" Bird in the Hand"
Nothing to Write About" January
Thaw," The Lightnings of the Lord"
/