Evening star., 1935-03-30
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C. BOWERMAN.

ONE LIGHT BURNING. BY r. G.
Hutchinson. New York: Farrar q
Rinehart.
In THE Answering Glory" and THE
Unforgotten Prisoner" Mr.. Hutchin-
son proclaimed himself a romanticist,
perhaps q bit of sentimentalist. This
statement will only recommend him to
many readers who are tired Of stark
truth" He here describes a heroic
quest across the wastes Of Siberia and
with 1t moving love story, all in un-
hurried, unregulated fashion. His
tory-telling method Ii, In fact. rather
confused and diffuse, often annoying
to a reader who would like more defl-
mite information about who the char
acters are and what they are doing.
Andrew Wild, idealist. goes into ST.
IBERIA in search of Franz Grundmann,
who has disappeared somewhere In the
lonely interior, whittier he has gone
to convert q tribe Of Tartars. Unac-
countably, Wild has persuaded four
other men to 60 with him: Matt, the
financial backer: Paillard, physi-
clan; Cutler and Keel. The sufferings
of the party are almost unbearable,
from cold, fatigue, the glaring white
ness. One of the five becomes mad,
another Is incapacitated from a gan
grened foot and a third Is left with
him. but the remaining two go dog
ged!y on. The return. told in the Sec
ond part of the story. when Andrew
fights against the sinister enemy
sleep, is even more dramatic than the
frst part. Andrew Is also an idealist
IN his love for Greta BriSsaut, wife OF
Sandy. We are able to discover moth
ing in Greta, either in the way Of
physical attractiveness or cleverneSs,
to explain Andrews worship. We no
tice her chiefly because she Is very
seasick.
SHEPHERDESS OF SHEEP. BY Noel
Streatfeild. New York: Reynal d
Hitchcock.
A member Of Parliament, an in
valid wife and four children make up
the Lane family. Sarah Onions Is
sent by an agency to the Lane coun-
try home as shepherdess for the chill
dren, or at least the two who are out
OF the nursery. Five other governesses
have been sent before her and have
remained only a month each. Prob
ably the reason why she remains much
longer, many years, is that her per-
feet honesty and whimsicality appeal
to the invalid Mrs. Lane at the be-
ginning and her unselfish devotion
later wins complete confidence. Sarah
becomes the real mother Of the four
children even before Mrs. Lanes
death and her bequest letter tie her
to them altogether. There is Jane,
the problem child, who is differ
ent," and because Of her Sarah will
not marry DR.. Jim, though she
loves him and is not afraid Of the
poverty he offers. Then the need for
her suddenly comes to an end and.
after nearly 10 years. she is back at
! the agency office. She finds that
times have changed" the World War
has been fought, most people no
longer employ governesses and those
| who do require university degrees. But
Sarah is indomitable and accepts the
suggestion that she take o post as q
mothers helper. She wonders If DR..
Jim has seen a notice Of James death
in the newspapers, then reflects that
Of course he has married by this time.
We hope he hasn't, but We are not
told. "Shepherdess. Of Sheep" Is q
story Of an old-fashioned, self-sacri-
ficing woman, told with great charm
and with fine character portrayal.
THE ROYAL WAY. BY Andre NAL
raux. Translated by Stuart Gil
bert. New York: Harrison Smith
and Robert Haas.
The jungle of Siam was crossed In
former times by o great road, the
royal way" from Angkor to the basin
Of the Menam River, and its route Is
today marked by ruined temples whose
stone carvings are of rare artistic
value. In search Of some Of these
Illicit treasures the French Perken
and his friend Claude 60 into the
jungle and there meet all imaginable
dangers with which the miasmiC
tropics can thwart and strangle their
victim. Their guides and drivers
desert, hostile natives assail them
with poisoned darts, their minds are
threatened by horrible sights. The
tale Is a lurid one, whose basis is hor.
ror and wild adventure, with large
admixture of sensuality. Malraux be-
longs to the French school, in which
Pierre Lott was an early practitioner
which seeks plots and atmosphere in
exotic places and among barbaric
| characters. He received the Goncourt
Prize for his earlier novel, Mans
Fate"
THE EXTRAORDINARY HOUSE. BY
RoSita Forbes. New York: Fred
erick A. Stokes Co.
South American background Is here
so well depicted, from the authors
own experiences of travel, that it Otter
pushes the story Of passion and muir
der into second place. A boat load o1
English passengers on a cruise arrives
at Montevideo, where Mrs. Wraxen.
don. her niece, Jean Langford; Tony
Walwyn and George and Kay Strans
decide to leave the boat and their fel-
low passengers, of whom they an
thoroughly tired. Agnes Wraxendon
for the sake of '1ocal color" takes a
house 10 miles out of town, covered
with bougainvillaea and orange
trumpet flower and surrounded BY
eucalyptus avenues and aisles Of gum
trees. The extraordinary house il
haunted, for it has seen violent love
and violent death. The English Wis.
itors find out a good deal about the
house before they leave it and are in
fected by its violent past, so that sur.
prising conflicts break out among
them. George and Kay Strang, hap
PLY enough married, discover them
selves duplicating the earlier tragedy
of the extraordinary house. An un-
usual plot Is handled with skill and
growing suspense.
BOOKS RECEIVED.
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