Evening star., 1944-03-19
The Proud People
By Mayy.Carfer Roberts
By Kyle Crichton. fScrtb-
porfe

ner'S)
Though this novel deals In sub
ject with the problems created in
our Southwest by the prejudice Of
Anglo-Saxon Americans against
Spanish Americans, it is essentially
novel of character, And it is
very good novel of character, too.
1t gives us large and ancient
Spanish American family, with
members extending through three
generations, and wide circle Of
highly variegated friends, and shows
us how this colorful tribe reacts to
series of modern emergencies. It's
people, however, are always more
interesting than its problems, and
that is the best praise for problem
novel that the reviewer can think Of.
1t occurred to her, even. as she
read the story through, that these
Spanish Americans, though of Latin
blood and belonging to very small
minority of the general population.
are remarkably like many Anglo
Saxon families of similar quality.
They are aristocrats In whom the
idea Of aristocracy has little con-
nection with the idea of wealth.
They are highly individuahstic.
They are proud, high-spirited and
conscious Of tradition. In some
cases they barely exc out living.
and that at ordinary occupations
as running country stores or little
businesses. But they maintain a
freedom OF soul, even so. They know
what is due them from themselves.
which Is the soul of the aristocratic
theory. There are many such fami-
lies in the length and breadth Of
America. The Spanish descent Of
Mr.. Crichton's Esquivels seemed to
the reviewer more or less incidental.
They are one group of native
Americans not essentially different
from the other old-established
stocks.
The working out of The Proud
People" consists. in the main. Of
the troubles OF two members of the
present generation-a young man
and a young woman. This pair.
however, moves constantly against
a background of gloriously pic
turesque elders, and one reads for
the sake of these members of the
cast quite as much as for the lead
ing characters. If one has a criti-
cism to make, 1t is that the story
contains too many incorruptible
individualists for one book. But
that is a criticism distinctly on the
side Of approval.
Silly Girl
By Angina Enters. (Houghton
Mi67in.J
Angina Enters, the distinguished
pantomimic dancer. has written here
the story of her childhood, of her
youth as a student and of her
subsequent development as an art
ist. 1t is thinly told tale; ono
thinks of it, somehow, as consist
ing Of a single silken thread.
Miss Enters was the daughter Of
a French mother and an Austrian
father, both of whom were indi-
viduals first and parents only later.
She lived in Europe and America
about equally and had a most in
formal kind of schooling. Then.
after her fathers death, she went
alone to New York to live in Green
wich Village and support herself
while she studied painting and
dancing. She knew, at a surpris-
ingly early age, what she wanted
to do with the dancing-the form
of character Interpretation which
she wanted to create. But she met
with difficulty in getting recogni-
ton and fought plucky fight for
critical understanding.
For the rest, Miss Enters, having
won her acclaim, travelled widely,
met the artistic great in many
countries and gave her time increas.
ingly to her painting.