Evening star., 1935-04-28

Kipling's. She is the author Of "A
Diary Without Dates" which caused
her dismissal from the military hos
pital where she was working during
the war; several books of travel.
poetry and children's stories and an
anonymous work which aroused con-
siderable sensation in London. Ma
tional Velvet" cleverly written, full OF
interesting people, and good horse
story, is the excellent choice of the
English Book Society and the Amer
ican f-the-Month Club.
SUSAN AND JOANNA. BY Elizabeth
Cambridge. New York: G. P. Put
mans Sons.
GET in the Cotswold hills. the village
farm of Node are the scene of the
growth to maturity of two girls, friends
from childhood, and their difficult ad
justment to the men they marry. The
setting is the authors own country
side, and by her intimate descriptions
she almost makes 1t ours. We see
every room at struggling Node farm,
home of Miss Laura Coppen and her
nephew Garry and later of Joanna
Cato; at the meticulously kept home
in Bract of Simon Anderson and his
daughter Susan; at the chill. decayed
vicarage of Bract, home Of the vicar,
Alec Cato, his wife and daughter
Joanna, and the yellow striped cat
Tobit, who plays a very important
part in the story. We walk about the
streets of Bract and of the market
town not far distant and back and
forth over the field path between
Bract and Node farm, enjoying the
larks, the willows along the stream,
the celandines and new grass as much
as Susan does.
Susan, motherless daughter of
father who is a selfish recluse, is, In
her complete humility quiet COM
petence and unruffled poise rarely
fine character. contrasting effectively
with her friend Joanna, scholarly,
managing, self confident, but entirely
lacking in tact and far less equal to
emergencies than Susan, who has no
opinion of herself whatsoever. Garry
Coppen. not capable of loving any
one well. stubborn in his demand for
personal freedom at the expense Of
the welfare of his farm, obtuse where
the feelings of others are concerned,
extremely sensitive where his own are
concerned, considers first Susan.
then Joanna, as wife. Susan's sub
tie perceptions and substantial COM
mon sense prevent her from making
the mistake of becoming the mistress
of Node. Her scientist husband, Blan-
don Armstrong, is impractical, blinded
by his absorption in his research, but
he is reliable, has no selfishness and
loves and values Susan. With Joanna
and Garry it is different. and the story
closes with a nightmare scene in
which their life almost ends in su-
preme tragedy-almost, but not quite,
for Miss Cambridge is a kindly nov-
elist and does not ruthlessly mete
out tragedy to the people she has
taught us to like. Susan and joan
ma" is at least as good a novel as
Hostages to Fortune" and that is
saying great deal.
A FEW FooLfsH ONES. BY Gladys
Hasty Carroll. New York: The
Macmillan Co.
WHEN we had read the first 50
w pages of "A Few Foolish Ones"
and had made the acquaintance of
the Bragdons, Grays, Linscotts,
Blaines, joys, Dockhams, Aliens,
Cheneys, Shoreys. Seldens, Elys and
Hamiltons of Derwich Village, and
had seen the disorderly meeting
which marked the reopening of the
Derwich meeting house. with Elder
James Gray in the pulpit, we felt re-
gretfully that this novel was going
to be far inferior to LAS the Earth
Turns" and that no one of the Der
wich villagers, not even Independent
Gus Bragdon. could compare with
Jen Shaw. But when we had finished
the last page and had seen Gus
through his 80 years and left his
daughter Kate. so like him but with
a strain of idealism from the Grays,
sitting on her doorstep alone at night,
gazing at the dark line Of woods
J.