Evening star., 1934-12-09

7 NOVEL, THE DARK ISLAND"
ID TODAY.
life with her husband and later the
influence which breaks the link, not
very strong. between her and her son.
She sees that the same mania love Of
Storm and jealousy Of the claim of
any one else upon it which unified the
selfish nature of Venn are also doml-
nant in Dominic
Miss Sackville-West has, as always,
drawn all her characters with great
subtlety. None Of them are conven-
tional types. Shirin, beautiful, elusive
yet brutally truthful, intuitive and
imaginative. would, except for her love
for Storm, be martyr in her life with
the violent, cruel Venn. who adores her
and is determined to conquer her
spirit. CriStina Rich. a sculptor of
talent. who goes to Storm as secretary,
realizes Immediately that something is
seriously wrong there. Straight, real
and honest, Cristina becomes Shirin's
tower of strength, the one person for
whom she has ever really cared, and
correspondingly becomes the object of
Venn's hatred and jealousy. to her own
disaster. Tracey, so self-effacing in
his 30 years of devotion to Shirin that
she calls him my old hearth rug" and
Mrs. jolly, equally devoted servant,
whose unsavory past continues with
some abatement into her 65-year-old
present, are depicted with as great
care and realism as are the chief
characters in the group. This most
dramatic OF all Miss Sackville- West s
novels belongs to the sadistic school of
fiction, with such novels as A. j.
Cronin's "Hatter's Castle" and L. A. G.
Strong's Brothers" One scene in the
book, handled with the utmost direct
ness and brevity. equals in horror al
most anything to be found in fiction
of this type. And through the whole
story runs the implication of the sim
lister influence Of the charmed dan
gerous circle of Storm"
y X X
THE SENTIMENTAL YEARS: 1886
1850. BY E. Douglas Branch. New
York: D. Appleton Century Co.
THE past grows roster as it recedes
and it is especially rosy to those
who have never known it in actuality
Florence under the Medici, for ex-
ample, seems a city all splendor and
gayety, but the by-streetS with their
crowded houses were places of filth
where crime lurked: even the palaces
were cold and not overclean under
their rich tapestries, and Giuliano
de Medici was murdered in the
cathedral. The years 1836-1850 may
have been years of sentimentality
(sentimentality is a state Of mind
often unrelated to fact). but it was
not until 1853 that a New York State
genius invented the cast iron bathtub.
Mr. Branch. Texas man, now on the
faculty of the University of Montana,
has for some time been interested in
the vivid Interpretation Of historical
periods and is the author of West
ward: the Romance of the American
Frontier" THE Hunting of the Buff
falo" and The Cowboy and His
Interpreters
Mr.. Branch finds the years while
the Civil War was preparing. before
feeling had reached its last acute
stage, between the end of Andrew
Jackson's presidency and Lincoln S
accession, the period of "the first
generation of the American middle
class" His selection of material and
method of treatment are similar to
those of Mark Sullivan in his Our
Times" Newspapers have been his
chief source. A reproduction of John
Sartain's mezzotint, THE Happy
Family" which appeared in Miss
Leslie's Magazine in 1843, forms the
frontispiece. Mother. the children.
the nurse, even the dog, all gaze at
tea table.
Those were the days of the begin
ming of the factory system in Amer
lea, which has today apparently run
away with the country; of the canal
companies being driven to default by
the rapidly developing railways: of
the first agricultural horse and steam
power machinery; of patriarchal mer-
chants who looked after the morals
of their clerks and paid them $50 a
year while they Learned the business. !"
They were also the days in literature
Of Dickens visit to the United
States; Godey's Lady's Book; Susan
Warmers THE Wide, Wide World"
and Harriet Beecher Stoves Uncle
Toms Cabin; "Woodmen, Spare That
Tree" by George P. Morris, now
Leaves; Ten Nights in Bar Room, !"
and the best-selling "Reveries Of a
Bachelor" In the fine arts the Amer
ican Gothic began to appear; Currier
and Ives prints were satisfying popu-
lar cravings for art; the daguerrotype
crystallized the faces of members of
all well-to-do families; Hiram Powers
produced the Greek Slave" defended
by a clergyman as clothed all over
with sentiment; Jenny Lind first
came to America under the auspices
of P. T. Barnum. Mr.. Branch's book
Is most readable, though a critical
reader could note lack of balance in
the treatment. of phases Of the life
Of the era and could wish for fuller
index and at least a brief photography.
+ II \
LIQUID CLAIMS AND NATIONAL
WEALTH. An Exploratory Study
isa klaa n1aaofn nf IidiiidifS, 2H