Evening star., 1935-04-03
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margaret Cermond.
BY Lady Eleanor Smith.
Indianapolis: The Bobbs- Merrill Co.

The love of gypsy maid for one
man and her devotion to another is
| the theme of this latest novel by the
author of Red Wagon" Flamenco"
and other stories of unfOrgettable
| beauty and power. In "Romany" a
new note of mellowneSs, firm and full
in tone, is sounded in romance sur
rounded by modern social life in Eng
| land and Europe yet unaffected and
unspoiled by the craZy-quilt pattern
of which it is a part.
Hassina is a sorry little waif in the
! eyes of others than those of her own
race when in Tangier she first sees
the man to whom she inStlnctlvely
knows that she belongs. She is long
legged, ragged, thin, tired and hungry.
For as many of the fourteen years OF
her life that she can remember she has
been ragged and hungry as she has
| thieved. lied and danced across Europe,
| Africa and parts of Asia, along with
| her brothers and sisters, under the
indifferent and often cruel direction
of Stamboul, a father of notorious
! ill-repute
Brazil, braWny tanner of circus bears,
does not notice the ragged little Gypsy
huddled in the shade of building on
street in Tangier, and two years
| elapse before Hassina sees him again.
During the annual fiesta Of the gypsy
people at Stes. Marie one of the
| tribes stages a sudden stampede and
| in the jostle Hassina is thrown of her
feet and into the arms of Brazil. He
loves her at sight. and they pledge
| themselves to each other. In six
months he is to return and marry her.
| But within a couple Of weeks Stam-
boul is Jailed and HaSsina and her
sister are clapped into a convent
orphanage. It is eight months before
Hassina manages to escape and en-
/ bark upon a career of self-support
until she and Brazil shall IND eacn
| other again.
Eventually, Hassina's dancing in the
| cabarets on the Continent leads 10
a contract for her appearance IN Lon
! don. where she wins immediate sue
/ cess, and where she meets Alan BROOK.
! Many men are attracted by her exotic
| beauty, but she consistently remains
aloof until in a mood of loneliness she
accents an invitation to dine with the
! stranger whose card is brought TO
her dressing room. BY his kindliness
and patience Alan wins the confidence
| Of Hassina and a warm response to
his own deep love for her She loves
him, but she is not in love with him
/ and cannot be so long as the memory
/ of Brazil stands between them. In the
/ belief that Brazil is dead she marrles
| Alan, though in the Romany code 1t
! is an unforgivable offense for gypsy
| to marry a eajo, and for the first
| time in her life she knows the mean
| ing of happiness that is born of COM
/ fort, security and companionship.
Life is sweet with this gaio hus-
band who. with unselfish devotion and
/ untiring patience, guides her over the
danger spots in her contacts with the
! cultured Savages who torture the souls
| of humans instead of picking their
pockets. A deepening sense of home
grows in the heart of the untamed,
passionate gypsy girl, and an ever
increasing affection for this splendid,
sympathetic Alan Of hers. And then
Brazil appears on the scene in
London circus.
Time rushes backward for HaSsina
| to the moment of her bethrothal kiss
in the tent Of the bear trainer. The
urge to go to the man she had called
her lord is stronger than her love
| for her husband and her home and
she goes to London, where in Brazils
gorgeotlsly decorated and furnished
wagon she faces the contest between
the nomadic, exotic demands of gypsy
blood and the peace and security of
Alan'S love.
Here is really a romance Of two
worlds-the colorful, restless, ageless
world of the gypsy. and the quiet,
serene world that is rural England.
The contrast between these widely
differing civilizations and the knowl-
edge which Lady Smith has written
into her story with a fine sensitive
ness Of understanding dominate the
theme and give to the story a charm
that is distinctive and enchanting.
LINES TO A LADY.-By Reita Lam
bert. New York: Doubleday, Doran
& Co.
A young man who has been plunged
from wealth into poverty and is Striv-
ing to keep the wolf from the door by
the writing of play has had the
good fortune of occasionally selling
poetry to a magazine. Things have
been going rather badly for him and
the receipt OF letter from an en-
thusisast over one poem has the effect
! nf oy-lv i've
a little brighter. He answers the letter
and then is inspired to pen a poem
TO its writer. Thus, through a poem
Deane Hovey becomes acquainted with
Virginia and falls in love with her.
The life and the love of the
would-be playwright, however, is not
so simple an affair, and if Deane is
to succeed he must meet the right
people. Through a friend he meets
Carolyn. an unhappy married woman
of wealth and influence, and through
her he meets the actress for whom he
is confident he is writing his play
Virginia, the operator of small book
shop in New York, is charming. pretty
sensible and lovable. Carolyn is
dangerously alluring and Renee, the
u1OAC Coo, 10 CCLlpcIdlIlS1lIdl.
Deane promptly becomes engaged tt
Virginia, but his difficulties with the
other two women and their confessed
ambition to possess him lead him into
situations which threaten to wreck his
aspirations as writer and to separate
him forever from the one girl who
really loves him and who understand:
his irrational temperament and the
easygoing disposition that even the
most tragic experiences can never cure
With Broadway and Park avenue
as the kaleidoscope background fol
the events which involve this very
small group of interesting character,
in plots and counter-plots against each
other, a lively and entertaining story
is told by a young woman who ha.
been writing since she was thirteer
years old and who confesses that al
that early age she decided to writt
like Dickens, but that since then she
has changed her mind her style anc
her economic and social interests 6
number of times. In private life Reits
, | T,of,ohnrt ie ftn ,t,ifo of A,4I