Evening star., 1935-01-13

'wINo I'VE" NO'ELs aMIniNaN
ILY."
Fleg has already, in his Life OF
Solomon" and Life OF Moses" dem
onstrated his ability to write Of scrip
tural subjects in the grand style, COM
bining narrative which has the flavor
of old chronicles with prose which is
almost poetry.
~
AMERICAN FAMILY. BY Faith
Baldwin. New York: Farrar &
Rinehart.
THIS chronicle of the Condit family
l. world-exploring New York State
people. from 1862 to 1917. is the finest
piece of fiction Faith Baldwin has
produced. 1t gives her place among
the serious writers Of large-scale
fiction, who strive for truthful back
acters. The name Condit and many
of the other names in the story are
in her own family genealogy. SO she
feels she has a right to borrow them
for her imaginary characters. The
settings are China, where Tobias
Condit. a missionary. takes his new
wife, Elizabeth, in 1861, and Northern
New York, "one OF the very loveliest
sections in my country" where David
Condit. son Of Tobias, settles as a
country doctor There has been no
attempt to portray with detail the
historical scene OF the So years cOv-
cred by the tale. but the historical
scene is there and in 1t move the
members of a very interesting family.
If I like some of my characters better
than others, that is my own affair.
If have suggested that all mission
aries to China are not the inhuman
and rigorous fanatics certain fiction
cycles have led us to believe, that is
merely my belief"
Tobias and Elizabeth Condit 60 to
China in a clipper ship. after Eliza
beth has tearfully protested in her
aunt's austere best parlor in Carthage,
N. Y. that she Is not fitted to be a
missionary's wife and Tobias has told
her that she must allow him to be
the Judge Of that When her first
Spring comes in China and the rice
fields are green as jade and it is time
for picking tea in the Fukien hills,
Elizabeths first child, David, is born.
The day-by-day life Of the Condits
in the missionary compound is real
istically described A second child.
Lydia, is born and dies a few years
later of a swift fever. David, while
still boy, decides to be a doctor, and
when the family returns to America
on furlough he Is left there for his
education. The years roll by as rap
idly as they always do in busy lives.
David Is man, marries Adeline Gra-
ham. and they 60 back to China,
where Tobias is now alone. David's
children are born in China and a
third generation of Condits starts
along the hard road of chance and
decision. David Is not as single
minded as his father, who loved only
one woman all his life; he loves three
women, all well, all differently" The
story ends in China. 1t is filled with
the fundamental emotions and ex-
periences Of real life, with the ambi-
tionS of men and the sacrifices of
women. with brief happiness and
long sorrows.
HOW LIKE AN ANGEL. BY A. G.
Macdonell. New York: The Mac
milan Co.
IN "ENGLAND, THEIR ENGLAND" !"
Mr.. Macdonell gayly but with con-
siderable affection satirized England,
as she appears in her work and her
play to man of Scottish psychology.
He did it so good-naturedly and with
such unexpected turns Of humor that
even the most confirmed Englishman
must have enjoyed it. In How Like
an Angel" he has spread his satire
over q broader field, including all
the superficialities Of contemporary
manners; has. in fact, spread it rather
too thin. The extravaganza of the
story becomes at times so wild that
the humor is lost. Hamlet's words
to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are
taken as a text: What q piece of
work Is man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and
moving how express and admirable!
in action how like an angel! in ap-
prehenSion how like god! the beau
ty of the world! the paragon OF ami
mals!"
As an example of this angel, this
god. this paragon, Mr.. Macdonell takes
founding and has him reared on
an island Of the South Seas (why q
South Sea island is so often chosen
as the symbol Of an earthly paradise,
untroubled by the evils Of civilization,
those who have visited the South Seas
are at a loss to understand), by three
missionaries, Of nationalities English,
French and German. The founding
is named Hugo Bechstein Smith. after
some debate over the names Tam
hauser Lohengrin Smith, Rabelais
Wilamowitz- Mollendorf, Bourbon Hoh-
enzollern Smith, Bach BalZac Smith,
and many other combinations doing
Justice to the patriotic feelings of all
three guardians. The education Of
this unusually fortunate youth pro-
ceeds satisfactorily until he reaches
the age Of 20, when he Is sent to
London to receive the benefits Of civ
ilization. On the journey he has
fixed upon him the identity Of q
movie actor recently escaped from