Evening star., 1936-10-17
SCHOOL MISTRESS is AUTHOR
Trained Paula Gogger Takes Place With Great Woman
Novess of Her Tne-Mans Loss of Laughter Regretted
by Agnes ReppGer-Other Books Reviewed.

man evolving. This story has been
told before and somehow, to prac-
ticed readers. one young man evolving
gets to seem very like another In time,
but that ought not to be held against
the individual book. The present work
is Of Charles Chastain, Virginian, who
grows up In Wilmington, marries the
wrong woman, meets the right one
and finally comes to peace. 1T Is well
written and contains some excellent
character drawing.
THE NEW HOUSE. BY Lettice Cooper.
New York: The Macmillan Co.
THIS is one of those novels which
Is designed with q definite ply
sical pattern. It IS set within the
limits OF one day. the day in which
the Powell family moves from the Vic
torian mansion 1t has occupied for
many years to q cottage, the change
being dictated by what the English
call reduced circumstances" The
memories and hopes involved in this
move. as they stir in the different
members of the family. make the
book. 1t Is q sufficiently estimable
piece Of work.
FAREWELL ROMANCE. BY Gilbert
Franksu. New York: Z. P. Dut-
ton Co.
THIS is what used to be called
problem novel" One problem Is
shall q man whose charming wife has
been crippled In an air raid resign
himself to the fate which has changed
her to an invalid? Another Is shall
the physician who Is in love with the
wife save her life by an operation
which will leave her blind? And still
another involves the behavior Of the
woman with whom the husband Of the
invalid falls In love. And all Of them
are solved!
A HISTORY OF THE UNITED
STATES NAVY. BY Dudley w.
Knox, captain. U. s. N. New
York: G. N. Putnam'S Sons.
THE hand trained to WELD the sword
usually loses its potency when
it picks up the pen, but not the hand
that belongs to Capt. Dudley w. Knox.
In this new and comprehensive story
Of the evolution Of the United States
Navy from its dramatic beginning to
its development into one of the worlds
great maritime fighting machines, he
has adhered to fact-as one Of his
training would-without sacrifice Of
one particle Of the drama of his SUBJ
iect.
One does not expect so much of the
technician when he drops the inStru-
struments Of his profession to tell its
story.
1t Is to his credit as an author
that Capt. Knox has turned out a
volume which will have popular
appeal without having resorted to
those literary devices by which tech
nical subjects so frequently are popu-
larized. In thus maintaining that
integrity which so many professional!
men seem willing to sacrifice when
they venture to write. Capt. Knox has
widened the market for his book.
While the layman will find 1t in
structive and entertaining. the stu
dent of military and political affairs
will discover in its pages much OF
especial value to him.
One familiar with the classic, spec
tacular chapters in United States ma
val history picks up Capt. Knox:s
volume with q deep curiosity to learn
what change in flavor is wrought when
a Navy man narrates them. There
IS a change, In that one finds the
stories OF famous conflicts enriched as
told by one with an appreciation OF
their technical aspects.
Capt. Knox's history, which treats
of its subject philosophically as well
as chronologically, Is quite as thor
oughly documented as one would eX-
pect of q writer trained in the ira
dition of the service. In this feature,
however, the author has chosen wisely,
in that his selection of official papers
pleasantly illumines as 1t authenticates
the story. F. j. c.
A PLACE IN THE COUNTRY. BY
Dwight Farnham. New York:
Funk & Wagnalls.
DWIGHT FARNHAM is neither an
architect, a real estate salesman.
an interior or exterior decorator nor q
professional dispenser of domestic ad-
vice. A financial writer by trade, he has
nevertheless created in "A Place In the