RACHEL

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21726, 7 March 1936, Page 19

RACHEL

Rachel the Immortal. By Bernard Falk. Hutchinson. 334 pp. (22/6.) Through Whltcombe and Tombs Ltd.

“Talent may be in time forgiven; but genius never.” Once in every generation or so humanity casts up from some unimagined matrix an individual startlingly different from other individuals of the time, an individual to whom the ordinary standards of attainment do not apply, and on whom more frequently than not humanity fails miserably to impose its ordinary standards of conduct. Rachel, gamin of the Paris streets, queen of tragedy, mistress of a dozen prominent men, was such a one. She lived from 1821 to 1858, and packed those years with more activity than a hundred normal women could fill into their lives. She was the daughter of a Jewish pedlar, and her early childhood was a time of ghastly privation which marked her health. The little girl knew nothing but squalor and hardship, but her active brain was sharpened and refined in conditions that would have broken a spirit less miraculous. Even as a street singer, a mere child, Rachel developed a quite extraordinary artistry and with it an equally extraordinary unscrupulousness. These two traits were the ruling principles of her life.

Rachel was acknowledged as the greatest actress of her time, incomparably the greatest; many will maintain, the greatest of all time. Completely and unashamedly selfseeking, she would lie, steal, snub, threaten, and cajole with utter disregard for the feelings or circumstances of others, provided she could satisfy herself. She was absolutely single-minded in activities which would bring her gain, but she was as purposeful in doing good. She ,was a completely implacable enemy without the faintest compunction in her tactics; but as a friend she was extravagantly generous, and refused to admit defeat until she had got for some friend what she wanted for him. This almost exotic generosity could not have been better demonstrated than as it was in her relations with her family. The Jewish race, of course, through history, has been remarkable for family-loyalty; and Rachel conspicuously exemplified it. Rachel’s singlemindedness in every activity was the root of her undoubted genius. She did not act any of the tragic parts that made her famous, she lived the lives of the Women whose story she enacted. Much new material has been brought to light by Bernard Falk. Not only is this an intimate dissection; of Rachel as a stage queen, grande amoreuse, street urchin and fine lady; it is a faithful picture of the 'Paris and London of Rachel’s day. . One finds new anecdotes and intimate glimpses of such men as Alfred de Musset, Dumas Pere, Louis, Napoleon, Victor Hugo, and Chateaubriand, to mention but a few. As a portrait of a unique character and a picture of a brilliant .period, the book is a . valuable addition to current literature. Not the least attractive part of the Volumeis the number of illustrav — __