THWARTED LIVES

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 102, 4 May 1929, Page 20

THWARTED LIVES

"Stillborn." By Lilian JSU-.hlcr. London: B. Appleton and Co. "Stillborn" deals with one of tlu ,j most difficult problems of life, the un-! bringing of an only son, the lmuicl.in-! into lite of a human soul. What Inn happened in the past many and ma.nv a time when parents have taken upon themselves the complete direction of I the adult life of their children? Does not the record show many a "misfit" and many a ruined life? The very proverb of the "squaro peg in a round hole must have evolved from such situations, and in its homely way it describes the extreme discomfort of the unfortunate "square pegs." Parents look on with complacence and satisfaction if their offspring has made any sort of success of the line of life that they had laid down for them to follow; or are extremely angry and disappointed it failure follows their insistent efforts at direction. The father may have made a success of life as a doctor or a lawyer and seen to it that his son followed on and takes over the business, while the boy's soul yearns for the sea or the open spaces and free life of the country, with the result that ho leads a stunted half-life, and has :t soured outlook on everything. In "Stillborn" the author deals with a mother who determines, even before her child is born, that if a boy he shall be a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. The story begins with the entry of Samlor Vallon, 1 a young and charming Frenchman, an

artist, into a well-connected New York family, the Kinney s. Vallon's father and John Kinney were old friends, and had passed through a war experience together; and so, after many years of parting, Dr. Vallou sends "his son to John Kinney for advice and kindness. The Kinney family consists of four girls. Martha, who at about 27 in the year 1593, was reckoned as being perilously near the old maid mark. Grace, 24, fair and silly, and twins, of 20* who were in Sandor's idea the "ugly ducklings." A few words describe Martha's state of mjnd. "Now she was 27. A fire eating its heart out. A harp drawn taut, but mute. A flood dammed back till its fury beat in the ear-drums. Empty, empty aches." It will be realised that with a young and unarming man, who conies in :as a boarder, takes the big top attic as a studio, and comes into contact with a volcanic nature like Martha's, his easygoing affections must involve him in making love to Martha, especially as his vanity is flattered by her fierce devotion. Nobody takes much heed of the couple, and the inevitable happens. Martha being a devout Catholic, nothing but real marriage will soothe her feelings of remorse at having anticipated it, so she and Sandor go off in a hurry, and the nuptial knot is tied. It is inevitable that Sandor grows rather weary of his wife's intensity; so he seizes the opportunity to join "the NeoArt Colony, a community which goes into the country and there starts an artistic life, with only those present who are really devoted to art. Sandor there does some splendid work, and gains the Parisian Gold Medal for a picture. He implores Martha to join him, but, in the meantime she has realised that a child is coming to her; so she decides that if she joins her husband he will perhaps want to have some s".y in the way the child shall be brought up. For herself she is determined that the child shall be a priest, and she decides not to tell her husband about her condition, she answers no letters, sends back his gifts, and cuts him out of her life. Sandor, although he is not devotedly in love with his wife, is considerably hurt by her conduct, and lie takes up with a girl who joins the colony, and lives with her for some years. Martha's son is born, in fact, nearly stillborn, but the skill and patience of Dr. Talmy saves his little life, and in gratitude the mother calls the child Taliny after him. Then comes the gradual training of the child. "You belong to the Church," she tells him, even when he is two years of age. "You were born for the Church," and the little one lisps after her, "I born for surts." At school he is separated from the other boys by the declaration, and Martha stifles and causes to bo stillborn every artistic inclination, or other that will cause, him to take after his father. Then, later, when her own intense nature shows out in her son, and he is attracted by the other sex, he falls deeply hi love with a beautiful Jewish girl, .beautiful in body and mind, and full of artistic cravings, in fact, just the mate for Talmy if he were allowed to develop naturally. But his mother drives home her wishes and intentions, and has him sent- to Home, so that he may see religion at its best, as she thinks. As if to spur the boy on, his mother tells him cruelly that ho is illegitimate. This drives him into taking the final vows, although his oldest priest friend counsels delay and moro certainty of vocation. Then comes the final tragedy. He mccls a clever, atheistic doctor, and his faith is thereby destroyed.

There is much in the book, it is full of thought and good argument. The incidents, though painful, arc not overdrawn, and, perhaps, the only lack is a reasonable modern showing' of the power and truth of religious thought and belief. Tallin- is shown not strong enough tn fight error, and the end is tragic. The story is a stern indictment of parents who thrust any sort of life and occupation on ehilVlren without consulting their wishes, inclinations talents, and. nature.—ll.ll.C.