Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-08-26

both-and the more lelSurely
still fingered into the more fun
good year for period novel,
as Joseph w. Meagher realized.
THE TENEMENT OF
DREAM Little, Brown;
S3.75 is a Favored i'm
preston of that year in the
great city by a writer too
young to remember it.
This novel has some fantastic
characters-in fact. most of
them are on the bizarre side.
These characters may lack
reality, but they are lot more
fun than many figures Of t1c-
ton who are completely natu-
raj and entirely dull.
Not a Dull Line
"The Tenement of Dreams"
has some situations and epi-
sodes which seem more SYM
bolic than credible. But it
has something a good many
cloSe-to-life, down to = earth
novels lack. 1t is completely
absorbing, because it is writ
ten with immense gusto; it
whirls you along with its color
and unashamed emotion. its
Dickensian detail. I don't
think there's a dull line in it.
This is primarily the story
Of Christopher Bole, the youth
who lives in a tenement below
Union Square. He has an ade-
quate musical education and
he is composing an opera, but
meanwhile he has to settle for
a job as piano player in a
nearby nickelodeon. His lib
rettist is a strange character
named John Paul Jamerson,
who lives in part Of a crum-
bling old house left tottering
precariously while a court
fight RACES over whether it can
be torn down to share the fate
of the demolished buildings
beside it. John Paul is gifted.
but not quite oriented much of
the time, and he drifts into
some odd scrapes.
Vie de BOheme
Their vie de boheme includes
a number of other persons.
There is Rhoda, the beautiful
mute girl whom Christopher
loves or thinks he does. She
is, as he well knows, probably
the most promiscuous girl in
New York, outside of profess
Sional hustlers. and yet, in her
way, she is faithful to Marshall.
her husband, who is old
enough to be her father.
Marshall took her in when she
was a homeless child, living in
alleys like an unwanted cat,
and then, when she grew old
enough, he married her, and
she is still grateful for all his
kindness. This Marshall, in
his late COS, is a symbol of
neighborliness. generosity and
unselflshness. He and Rhoda
live in top of Christopher's
yellow tenement.
The owner of the tenement,
q withered old lady, owns a
great deal more, is rich and
a fabulous miser. When she
disappears mysteriously, her
brother. a blind millionaire
living in Gramercy Park with a
small army of servants, hires
a private detective. Brother
and sister can't stand each
other, but Josiah wants to
know what happened to her
the worst, he hopes.
The Typical Cop
The detective. an ex-police-
man who left the department
because of some Slight trouble
over graft, is the most typica!
cop I think 1 ever encountered
in fiction; he hasn't a vagrant
doubt about anything, And we
must not overlook Falconer,
who is the blind millionaire'S
business manager. Falconer,
poking about the tenement in
search of clues to the owners
fate, encounters Rho6a. and
he, too, falls-few men III New
York can resist her.
I won't attempt to go into
the complications and climaxes
that happen at the Tenement
of Dreams, the house in
Gramercy Park and the trem-
bling. floor-slanting mansion
where John Paul exists.
You may feel that the char
acters are typed and their lives
controlled by fates Playing
with loaded dice. But I'll bet
my bottom dollar you'll enjoy
this impressionistic picture Of
Manhattan 40 years ago.
which Mr.. Meagher has writ
ten so perceptively.
~ Il