Evening star., 1934-05-20
FIVE SILVER DAUGHTERS. BY Louis Gold
ing New York: Farrar & Rinehart.


nights in Silver's Kitchen drink inefficient Mrs.
Silver's tea with lemon and argue mildly but
interminaby The five daughters are the
strident Esther, who even after she marrles
the carpenter Joe TiShler, under the canopy,
attempts to manage all the Silver affairs;
Susan who wthdrawS from the kitchen about
the middle of every anarchist evening to go
into the sitting room with Polednik, the real
"red." where they read revolutionary literature
and make copiouS notes; Sarah, the eternal
mother who nurses the neghborS' children
until she marries the mysterious, weary Smlrnof
and becomes a mother to him well as to
her seven children; Elsie, who shocks all the
family prejudices, which are thoroughly con-
servative in spite of the kitchen meetings,
by going the variety stage and has Wild
career in France and Germany during the
World War: and May. whose love affair is
thwarted by the prod.giOus family prosperity.
SO that she remains with her parents and de-
votes herself to charities. The Silver home
in Oleander street. in the Jewish quarter OF
the factory town of bloomington, is near Mag
nolia street. the of Mr.. Golding's last
novel Magnolia Street"
Though the daughters give the name to the
story the men whom they marry and their
father are of equal greater Importance.
Sam Silver is employed by Winberg when We
first meet him. but soon goes to work for
Horowitz in his waterprooting factory, which
he buys when he wins 80 in the Dutch
lottery. Sam Silver alone would never have
been more than a good workman. but the
rather repulsive, apparently lethargic Smlrnof.
whom he takes into partnership is financial
genius and makes a fortune for them both
in war industry The secret struggle between
Smrnof and Poednik, the first evidence Of
which is the attack of the latter on the former
in the Silver kitchen, is the intrigue of the
story Smrnof is a former member of the
Russian secret service; POlednik is present
agent of Lenin in England preparing the way
for Russian revolution. The two have met and
hated long before in Russia, when Smirnof has
brought about the imprisonment and death of
Polednik's dearest friend. Polednik's pursuit of
his enemy is relentless and ends in final catas-
trophe for Smirnof They form a perfect
equation of persecution instincts. in which
the autocrat equals the proletar;an.
When the Silver companies built up by
Smirnof collapse honest Sam Silver pays the
creditors as far possible from his own
fortune, and the family deScends from the
elegance of Pennine Grange to the old house
in Olea arder street. May is able to marry
her early lover. the poor, conscientious OBJ
jector Gentle clerk, who would have none
of the daughter of receiver of huge wartime
profits Esther raves at her fathers surrender
of his personal fortune and the slump back to
Oleander street So the long narrative ends
where is begins, in the Silver kitchen, after
it has rambled all over Europe, with stops in
Moscow, Paris, Berlin. We might ask what Mr.
Golding means by it all, but the answer is
easy He means nothing except to tell first
rate story of modern age and to create a
group of living characters representative of a
section of its society Not one of the numerous
persons of the narrative is a lay figure. Some
interest more than others, and simple but
independent Sam Silver has our especial llk-
ing but to none of them Indifferent.
We offer sincere thanks that Mr.. Golding
does not bore us with propaganda fiction. He
Is too wise to sacrifice his real art in story
telling and character wing for any
traneouS purpose
LAMB IN HIS BOSOM BY Caroline Miller
New York: Harper & Bros.
THOUGH this novel was published in 1888
and has just been awarded the Pulitzer
Prize for fiction, it is a surprising fact that
many of the reading public have never
heard of it. But the same thing was
true when Robert Bridges made poet
laureate of England in 1913 Though Bridges
had not at that time written his best poetical
work, The Testament of Beauty he was not
entirely without merit poet. So, Lamb in
His Bosom is decidedly not without merit
fiction; but that it is the outstanding American
novel of American life published in 1888 is an
other matter. Anthony Adverse was pub
lished in 1888 and many confidently expected it
to be chosen by the Advisory Committee and
Board of Control of the Pulitzer Prizes, but one
reason for its being passed by readily comes to
mind-it is a novel of peregrination and only
one part of its scene is in America "As the
Earth Turns" by Gladys Hasty Carroll, is an
other 1888 novel picked by many. this reviewer
included, deserving of the Pulitzer Prize
1t is saga of Maine farm life in the period of
its decline. 1t is to be hoped that the Advisory
Committee in fiction will give for publication
its reasons for its choice of Lamb in His