Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-11-02
NEW BOOKS AT
RANDOM
By MARGARET GERMOND.

YOUR LIFE AS A WOMAN; and How
to Make the Most of 1t. BY Margaret
Devereux. New York. Random
House.
This volume Is what might with pro-
priety be described as reference IL
brary on domestic tranquility. The book
market is continuously offering new
publications giving advice on such gen.
orally common subjects as making homes
attractive, keeping husbands happy, the
welfare and management Of children
and innumerable other problems which
beset the womenfolk of all households,
but very few Of them cover so wide
field as this seemingly super book of
knowledge. II it contains more kinds
of advice than 1t would be possible for
any one woman to absorb, it is possible
to justify the surplus onhhe theory that
1t contains something for every woman
rather than everything for most women.
Also, work of this character necessarily
is based upon the assumption that the
problems in all domestic groups that
arise from Identical causes are solvable
by identical answers, whereas in all
truth differences in individual person.
atty and temperament render the APP
plication of so simple formula inef-
fectual and even impossible
Be that as it may, the author of "Your
Life as Woman" writes from expert
ence and brings into this work the type
of sound reasoning that is developed
through the solving of ones own domes-
tic problems and through contacts with
groups and individuals in numerous
communities. She was for nine years an
executive in a large business establish
ment, and then served as an editor of
the Ladies Home Journal and House
and Garden. She has travelled widely
in this country and in Europe. Her in
terest in women spans period of fifteen
years. and in writing this volume it has
been her purpose to help them make the
most OF every opportunity and to be
able to master every disconcerting or
disrupting situation. Perfection in do
mestic happiness and contentment is to
be attained, she believes, by becoming
proficient in the art of gracious living.
X X
Basing the whole of her reasoning
upon this theory, scores of problems.
large and small are set up by Mrs.
Devereux in brief stories that demon
strate how perplexing situations develop
and followed by the sort of advisory
comment that places remedial RESPONSE
bility upon the woman of the house and
tells how the difficulty may safely and
wisely be overcome
For instance, in a chapter headed
Don't Be Afraid of What You Have"
and dealing with the problem of making
the most of the, furnishings and deco
rations of home, she says:
you cannot keep up-nor should YOU
be at all commemorative the obvious
WITNESSES of fashion. . Work out an
intelligent arrangement of the things
you possess SO that you can have the
most logical and simple groupings for
the daily life you lead"
Another chapter, headed Are You
Ashamed Of Your Conversational" ad-
monishes against being classed among
the seven deadly bores, enumerated as
the "boaster" the topic snatcher," the
bitter ender," the lecturer" the
"checker-upper," the "egotist" and the
self -Winder."
The book is divided into four parts.
the first collectively titled Write Your
Own Ticket" and containing six chap
tiers dealing with the basic elements that
either make or destroy the personality
OF the individual. Part two concerns
the maintenance of the partnership re-
latlon OF man and wife and discusses
such problems as the things that men
will not stand for; the art of being a
good companion; how to spend money;
why many men prefer to remain bache-
lors; how to become business asset:
the proper evaluation of personal worth,
and the development Of true and
sympathetic understanding of others.
Part three is devoted to the relation
ship between parents and children and
discusses under six subheadings such
major problems as knowing children
and keeping their affections; the too
often encountered situation where one
set Of manners and customs is permitted
in the family circle and another sort of
conduct is demanded on company occa-
sions; the age at which children become
critical of their parents; the problem of
learning what children think of their
parents, and the Importance of cultivat-
ing calm and casual attitude when
anger might prove dangerous.
The final section is given over to
home making, and deals with the prob
lens of making the most of what is at
hand; making the home keep pace with
the increasing demands upon it's re-
sources; remedying tired rooms" and
the maintenance of an atmosphere of
hospitality, with the final chapter given
over to an elaboration of the main
theme, which is the mastery and the
exercise of che "art of gracious living"
X X
This is not question and answer book
In the sense of being formal list of
problems accompanied by a set of cut
and-dried solutions. 1t is almost col
lection of short stories, consecutively car
rying forward situations that progress as
life itself progresses and becomes COM
pick 1t is possible to conceive that thou
sands of years hence every woman will be
sufficiently versed in wisdom to accept
o,,J r,;+l, tho opclo,,uIfc IF odvar-