Evening star., 1935-09-11
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Murgaret CermOnd.
THE WORSH1PFUL LUCIA. BY E. F.
Benson New York: Doubleday, Doran


Benson. New York: Doubleday, Doran
S1 Co.
If Dame Catherine Winter Glass had
only lived to o ripe old age instead OF
embarking for the pearly gates at the
untimely age of f1fty-five, the highly
respectable and ancient village of Tilling
might have sunk into the easy comfort
of its fireSide lounging chairs and sur
rendered to the luxurious sense of secur.
ity generated by complacent self -satis-
faction, Elizabeth Mapp and her Benny
boy" might have honeymooned to the
end of their day, and Mrs. Emmeline
Lucas might never have realized that
her own life had been a particularly
useless affair in a world that needed SO
many things to be done for 1t. OF course,
not one of Lucia'S old admirers will ad-
init this self-estimate of her value to
be true, for they are well acquainted
with her numerous activities and have
q profound belief in her ability for con-
tinued interest in the affairs OF Tilling.
But to Lucia, in a mood of restrospect
induced by the newspaper obituary, the
contributions she has made to the well
fare of. mankind seem paltry, and the
death of Dame Catherine Winter-Glass
becomes q matter OF personal Slgnifi-
canoe For Lucia is rapidly approaching
her fiftieth birthday, and if the sands
of time should run their course for her
at such an unreasonable age there are
only a few years left in which to make
up for the wasted half century. Dame
Winter Glass had been an especially
generous philanthropist, though her
original fortune was known to have been
small. Lucia determines to become a
philanthropist and to spend the rest of
her life endowing this and that and the
other and making a name for herself
that will insure an equally glowing
obituary for herself when the final cur
tain drops.
The first essential in a career Of
| philanthropy, however, is money. Lucia
has never engaged seriously in the buSi-
ness OF making a few dollars produce
more dollars, but other people, even
women, have been known to make for
tunes on the stock market, so she decides
to try it. Gold mine stock seems a good
start and, upon the advice OF broker,
she buys. She subscribes to financial
paper and watches the market. The
news spreads and Elizabeth Mapp and
her Benjy-boy follow Lucia's lead. Diva,
George and nearly all of Things popu-
lation fall into line and invest.
Then the fun begins Old rivalries
break out. the joyous interchange of
gossip goes on increasingly and the merry
tale of the complicated social life in the
small English town sparkles along like
a refreshing brook through days and
nights of excitement such as Tilling has
never experienced in its long and honor
able history.
Though the novel takes up again the
| familiar characters and scenes of the
earlier Lucia series, the present story is
complete in itself and is just as brimful
! of humor, common sense and entertain
/ ment as if its characteristic collection
| of pretentiouS small-town individuals
we're entirely new and the territory
unexplored.
HONOUR, COME BACK" BY Ma
omi Jacob. New York: The Macmil-
Ian Co.
There is enough material in the elastic
subject upon which the story of Michael
| Benham is based to make a powerful
novel. That it misses the mark and
says at the points where it should show
the greatest strength is matter that
does not altogether spoil the interest that
is naturally aroused in the affairs of
Michael in the beginning OF the story,
but it lessons that interest to conSid-
cradle extent before it reaches the turn
ing point and begins the climb toward
its logical climax.
The story Is not a happy one. Not
any tale Of the Great War can be. And
the wrecking Of the real manhood of
young Michael Benham In the four years
OF purpoSeleSs slaughter is all too true
an indictment OF the ambitious men
| whose lust for conquest drenched the
world with blood Michael is a symbol
OF the souls that were murdered, rather
than an individual character incapable
Of adjusting to war-mad civilization.
Michael's soul was murdered by his
father, a stalwart son Of England to
whom soldiery was the highest and the
| only profession which a man should
adopt as a career, and to whom war was
the most glorious experience of life. Bill,
his oldest son. inherited his fathers zest
| for the service. But Michael's tempera-
ment, finer senSibilities and tastes were
of a different order. He wanted to be
fruit grower From early childhood
his father belittled his character, con-
demned him as a mollycoddle and hated
| him furiously because he lacked military
enthusiasm. Thus Cowed into inferfority,
the lad began to feel himself coward
and later to believe himself to be one.
At fifteen he was forced by his fathers
scorn to leave school and enter the
service
The numbering of a soul is, unfortunate
ly. not as rule completed in one opera
ton. Michael's soul was murdered many
times during the four years Of horror
through which he forced his body in an
effort to prove himself the sort of
man his father wanted him to be, while
in his mind he knew that no heroic
achievement could give him a belief in
its glory. And this novel is the story
of q truly brave and valiant English
lad, struggling through a mental hell
worse than that which prevailed in the
trenches, and endeavoring each inch Of
the way to save others from suffering
the pain which he can himself endure
but cannot witness.
Michael eventually escapes from the
tortureS of his childhood and the scars
of war, but the fruit trees that bloom
for him are not those of his own estates
or even Of his own country. Honor is
something to hold dear and to guard
with life itself-but who shall judge of
what material honor is made7
Naomi Jacob has natural gift for
crisp, concise story telling She has
gone astray and written q slow moving
narrative, heavy in spots, but interest
ing, nevertheless, and convincing in it's