ADVENTURE IN BEAUTY

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 100, 30 April 1938, Page 27

ADVENTURE IN BEAUTY

In the winter of 1936-37, while visiting Guatemala, Louis Adamic lived briefly in the "P.openoe house" in the earthquake ruined city: of Antigua— a house lately restored from ancient ruins by Dorothy ■' P.openoe and her husband, Wilson Popenoe, a botanist of international repute who is its present owner. In "The House of Antigua," published, by Gollancz, against the rich and,'colourful background of Spanish colonial life and the changing scenes of four centuries, Mr. Adamic tells the story of this house, which is rapidly becoming known throughout the world as one of the loveliest private dwellings in existence. People journey thousands of miles merely to walk through its several patios and glimpse the interiors.

The story of the Popenoes and their restoration of the house is one of the most moving on record, while in the fortunes of the house itself Mr. Adamic sees a symbol of the whole movement of humanity. This significant note carries through a dramatic and unusual narrative, whose quality will recall to readers the author's novels "Grandsons" and "Cradle of Life" and perhaps in even greater degree his travel book "The Native's Eeturn."