Evening star., 1936-07-08
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
BY MARGARET GERMOND.
sANFELICE. BY Vincent sheean. New

t1iStOIy anu TOLldIlCc ulFluC AOAlOAo AOA
supremacy Of interest in this profound
and stimulating fictional reconstruction
of that tragic era in Old World affairs
when beaStly, ignorant tyrants occupied
royal thrones; when Admiral Nelson and
Napoleon Bounaparte were riding high
on the flood tides of national heroism:
when heads were rolling in rapid success
sion flom the executioner's block at the
command Of depraved monarchs; when
Lady Hamilton, blackSmiths daughter,
was reveling in an extravagant blaze
OF social and political glory, and when
the ill-reputed Maria Carolina was Queen
Of Naples.
Donna Luisa Sanfelice, victim of q
worthless husband and of a web of en-
tangling intrigues, is the medium through
which the political conditions and the
method Of reasoning that resulted in the
Inflated Neapolitan revolution of 1899
are revived and interpreted in terms OF
historic truth and romantic Imagination.
1t is in the Fall of 1898 that Luisa
Sanfelice surrenders to the dominant will
OF her mother and consents to emerge
from the retirement into which the
disgraceful behavior of her husband has
forced her and to enter again, for the
o04S Pu POoC VI OCChlIlS dIl Will
the Queen, into life of royal society.
The occasion chosen for Luisas reap
pearance on the social scene is a grand
ball, given by Lady Hamilton in honor
OF Admiral Nelson, whose conquests in
Egypt have made him the hero of the
hour. Many great personages Of power
ful influence as well as a number of
less famous representatives of Neapoli-
tan thought attend the ball, and though
general conversation deals mainly with
the necessity for the conquest of Malta
and driving the French from Italy,
smaller groups devote their thoughts
and comments to a cause far removed
from the plan Of the Queen to induce the
hero of the Nile to conquer Malta and
receive her gratitude for handing the
island over to Naples.
One young man who has gained ad-
mission to the ball for the sole purpose
OF kissing the. hand of Luisa, whom he
has seen only once and with whom he
has fallen madly in love, succeeds in
the execution of his ambition and also
makes sure that he has willed her to
remember him. Luisa is also rewarded
for bowing to the wishes of her mother,
for Lady Hamilton promises to intercede
for an audience with the Queen.
Not many days after the ball Luisa is
notified that the Queen will receive her,
but meantime she has made further
progress in the social world by walking
in the park and accompanying the
DucheSSa Fusco to the home of Madama
Plmentel, where she had again met her
young admirer; also Vincenzo Cuoco, q
young writer whose cleverneSs was WIN
ming recognition, Giuseppe Caracciolo,
the grand Siegneur, and Kiliano Carac-
clolo. aristocrat, priest and philosopher,
and other notableS.
From the moment LuiSa entered the
ball room Of Lady Hamilton and made
her request for an audience with the
Queen her destiny was sealed, for the
Queen declined to grant her plea for
share Of Andrea's income and de-
nounced her for her association with
traitors, rebels and the hated Jacobins.
And it is thus through the destiny of
Luisa Sanfelice, drawn by poverty from
the Seclusion of enforced shame and
plunged into the maelstrom of European
political intrigue at the closing years
of the eighteenth century, that the story
Of the tragic and inglorious Neapolitan
revolution of 1893 is unfolded in fact
and fiction by an author whose crafts
manship, already recognized as superior
in quality, attains TO even higher per-
fectior than that which made Personal
History an outstanding literary achieve
ment.
Based upon historic truth, through
which has been woven a romance of
delicate beauty and sacrifice, "Sanfelice"
presents brilliant picture of the Nea-
politan monarchy under the rule of Maria
Carolina and the weak-minded King
Ferdinand and a graphic account of the
revolution which ended in disaster in
the early months of 1899. Pondering
upon the modes of thought and the
methods of reasoning that prevailed
nearly century and half ago induces
the reader to wonder If the great minds
which control the destinies of nations
today have progressed to any appre-
ciable degree beyond the capacity of
the monarchs of old.
CHOOSE A BRIGHT MORNING. BY
Hillel Bernstein. New York: Frederick
A. Stokes Co.
KeetS Wilbur, having concluded that
the salvation of civilization lies in hero
worship elects to give tangible expression
and proof of his belief by presenting
to the government of Bidlo a handsome
allegoric statue of its two great heroes,
OrSatz and WinSatz. Knowing all about
the supereficiency Of the Bidlo govern
ment and Of the clockwork precision of
the function Of all of its administrative
ofdceS he decides to arrive in Bidlo un-
announced and enjoy the excitement Of
witnessing the commotion which his un-
heralded arrival is certain to create.
Wilbur Is q wealthy American, seek
ing isolation from his wife and the
business-mad life from which it is i'm
possible to escape in the United States.
He has enjoyed in his own way all of
the pleasures of life that money can
buy. There Is little left in the world
to appeal to his genuinely spiritual love
for mankind and his equally genuine de-
sire to give tangible testimony of the
true nature Of his inner being. DictatorS,
springing into the limelight overnight in
various parts Of the world, afford an
opportunity that he cannot resist, and
so he begins giving marble statues of
these heroes to the governments which
they seize-by fair means or foul-and
the people whom they regiment to sing
their praises and do them honor.
Those who recall "L'Affaire Jones" will
remember that Mr.. Bernstein exhibited
in that highly amusing story veritable
genius for satire. In this new novel
he devotes his talent to dictatorships.
and to arrive with him in Bidlo and make
fI,n info af