Evening star., 1938-02-23
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
BY MARGARETeCERMOND.
THE RISING TIDE. BY M. J. Farrell.
New York: The Macmillan Co.

Here Is full-bodied. red -blooded hovel
that satisfies practically every emotion
that readers OF good fiction hope for
when lifting the front cover Of . new
book. Miss Farrell scores on several
points. First, 1t Is the work OF skillful
writer whose maturer judgment and
wider experience provide . finer finish
than was evident in the preceding novels.
Next, the story Yields into q composite
whole three sets of subjects that might
easily have become unmanageable II
undertaken by less competent crafts
man. Again, 1t possesses the irresistible
charm Of Ireland.
Bridging the gap between. the two
generations which cataclysmic events
separated more widely than any previous
civilization experienced is in itself task
fraught with perils and pitfalls. It is
true, as the author sets forth in the
opening chapter, that the years from
1900 to 1914 I'VE can feel about only
dimly." Looking backward from 1900 to
reconstruction days, 1t Is not difficult to
recall that life conformed to q pattern
OF fair degree of tangibility. 1t may
OftentimeS have been dimmed by the
mists of economic and political upsets
peculiar to the era, but with the vanish
ing OF these obscuring fogs the pattern
again became visible.
The same tangibility of purpose un-
doubtedly marked those fourteen years
preceding the Great War, but the blood
drenched world staggered back to reality
after four years of purposeless slaughter
with no pattern for anything and with
but vague memory OF the immediate
past. Ireland, like America, suffered no
territorial damage, but no nation, small
or large, escaped the wrecking OF the
institutions which had formerly been
the backbone of culture and progress
Garonlea. ancestral home of the Nc
Graths, bears resemblance to Jalna in
the sense Of its hold upon the family
and OF the characteristics OF the tyrart
who rules 1t. Lady Charlotte McGrath
Is the grand dame who rules with an
ironclad hand. Neither her husband nor
her children are granted the privilege
OF independence or privacy. Garonlea is
q somber, gloomy household, kept so by
the dominant will of Lady Charlotte in
accordance with her concept of orderly
and conventional living. STEPPED in ira
dition and firm in its hold upon succeed
ing generations of McGraths, the old
homestead in the west of Ireland grasps
even more greedily for a hold upon the
lives OF its latest group of young people.
Violet, Enid and Muriel have been
nodded by their mother into typicaliy
submissive maidens OF the EdWardian
era. But the youngest girl, Diana.
possesses something of the willful rebel
nousness OF her mother. She declines
to conform to the pattern prescribed
Tor her life by the ruler OF the house.
Desmond. the only son, is an amiablc,
sweet-tempered and lovable chap who
marries q radiant blond and thereby
throws the whole machinery OF Garonlea
considerably out Of gear. Cynthia is q
genuinely captivating heroine, a girl
whose wit and beauty are but fractions
OF character capable of meeting any
emergency with grace and fortitude and
OF winning q battle without loss of dig
nifty or prestige.
1t Is to be expected that this entranc-
1ngly beautiful young woman and her
indomitable mother law clash, It is
inevitable also that Diana breaks away
from the limitations and gloom OF Garon-
lea and joins her lovely sister-.n-law.
The two generations. thus represented,
establish the opposing forces OF Miss
Farrell's interesting tale. Garonlea is
famed Tor its shooting and fishing
grounds, which afford thrilling scenes
for sport lovers.
How 1t comes about that Lady Char
lotte nights losing battle against the
rising tide OF youth, and what happens
at Garonlea when Cynthia becomes its
mistress and endows it with the vitality
that is 50 characteristic Of her own life,
makes story that is very much worth
while.
THE DEVIL TO PAY. BY Ellery Queen.
New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co.
An entirely new Ellery Queen is pic
tured in this odd tale OF mysterious
murder on an estate in the hills OF Holly
wood. In the first place the likable son
OF New York's famous Inspector Queen
Is In Hollywood as writer in the Magma
Studios-or, that is, he accepted an offer,
signed a contract and was assigned to
an elegent office for that purpose. He
next appears as the highest bidding
buyer at the auction Of the possessions
Of Rhys Jardin. Disguised and obdurate
in his determination to purchase every
thing offered for sale, he takes all the
Joy out Of what promised to be an
exciting show. As if two outlandish
occupations were not sufficient. he en-
cages in third by posing rs . newspaper
man while doing a classy bit Of detective
work and eventually he emerges as all
readers Of mystery fiction know him.
The job in Magma Studios is genuine
despite the fact that not an assignment
has been given him during several weeks
of employment Walter Spaeth, nice
chap with q crook for = father, has been
q classmate Of Queens and they renew
acquaintance on chance meeting.
When the elder Spaeth's business project
is washed out by floods, carrying with
it the fortune of Rhys Jardin and the
savings of countless people who trusted
both men, Walter discovers that his
father cleaned up handsomely before
the wreck. Walter grew up without much
contact with girls and those OF the
modern school terrify him, but he some
how loses his heart to Valerie Jardin, a
most modern Of modern maidens, and
he greatly admires her father. Disguised
with his own father, he engages Queen
to buy everything in the Jardin sale.
Then Solomon spaeth is found muir
dered and both Walter and Jardin be-
come involved. A conniving female
known q Winni Moon is sole heir to
Spaeth's millions. Anatole Ruhig, 4
lawyer q crooked as old Spaeth, has .
hand In the making Of his will. "F1tS,"
editor Of the Los Angeles Independent,
gives Valerie q job while her father Is in
jail. her commission being to tell the
inside story OF the murder-which she
knnus n rreat deal bit not enough