Evening star., 1938-09-04

even after she has retired to live in
boarding house on her annuity. And
that Kate's column could not be very
good.
OF the three others, who are not
shown to be living in relation to love
affairs, real or imaginary. Eileen is
possessed Of driving ambition to make
money. Martha has the deep religiosity
of a saint, and Claudia miss Hills
self. one strongly suspects) is
enamoured Of sense of beauty in
things.
Eileen has been able to leave her
husband for the sake of her business.
Thus she has shown her strength.
Martha only wants to help people.
Thus she finds her strength. And
Claudia has furnished an apartment
for herself that is so beautiful that
it is her delight to be alone in it.
Writing of Claudia, Miss Hills does
a good bit Of special pleading. 1t is
plain that she eSteems this heroine
above the others, and has herself more
sympathy with her point Of view than
that of any Of the rest And this is
only natural, because Claudia is the
seventh woman-the only one of the
group to have the gifts for leading
a life that is well rounded. Claudia,
one feels. would find something to
interest her anywhere; she is not de-
pendent upon the set of motions by
which she earns her bread land this
could mean marriage as we'll as a
job for her awareness of the world.
But-what is it all about, when one
comes to the end of 1t?
AS far as the reviewer can make out,
it tells us nothing except that Miss
Hills has literary ambitions and is
in the habit of making her ambitions
pay. She has done two volumes in the
past; one OF these was a cook book;
it is likely that she regards the pair
as her prose compositions" Now she
goes bravely on to poetry. Will the
drama be next? Or will Miss Hills
take up sculpture or portrait paint
ing? And speaking of that, the illus
trations in the volume are terrible.
Although they are seriously intended.
they resemble caricatures.. The artist
is not named except as Dora. One
suggests that Dora take some drawing
lessons-or else consult Miss Hills
about a career" more suited to her
capacities.
THE FLYING CH1NAMAN. BY Harry
M. Fein. New York Alfred A.
Knopf.
THIS is an attempt, not too happy,
to produce a work in the manner
OF Ernest Bramah the creator of the
Kia-lung books That Is to say, it
takes a humorous plot and sets it
against pseudo Chinese setting. Mr..
Bramah can do that. He understands
how to use the elaborate etiquette of
the old Chinese to point the humor of
undignifled daily living. MIR. Fein,
however, is lacking in subtlety and.
as a result, his book reads a good
deal like vaudeville skit. 1t tells of
group Of villains who mistakenly
believe that humble young clerk has
inherited treasure and of how they
harry the poor man from pillar to post
in an effort to make him tell where the
money is. 1t is nowhere near as
funny as it should be, If it is to justify
itself. Indeed, 1t is not funny at all.
FLATTERYS FOAL. BY Peter Shi-
raeff Translated from the Rus
sian by Alfred Fremantle. New
York: Alfred N. Knopf.
THIS book is reviewed at such length
here not because it has any par
ticular distinction as a work of litera-
ture, but because it Is written by a
modern Russian and still is not the
story of how the proletariat tri-
umphed. Every bit OF fiction which
has come to the reviewers hand from
Russian presses so far has been that
story. But though the proletariat tri-