BOOK NOTICE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16664, 8 April 1916, Page 8

BOOK NOTICE

" The Crown of Life." By Gordon Arthur • Smith. New York: Charles Scribner's Sods. This is one of those witty, sparkling talcs for which our American cousins are justly celebrated. Under the guise of tho American and French leKperienlees of a. very modern young girl, the author gives us a number of clever sketches of life in a Massachusetts town, as well as Paris, pointing his moral to .the statement that, although Paris may be the ideal pleasiu'e ground, there is no place liko homo. The heroine, Ruth Holhvorthy, orphan descendant of an huuorourable New England family—being possessed of complete confidence in the power of her own beauty and intelligence—revolts against formalities and conventions, and, on the earliest possible opportunity, before she is eighteen, takes the ordering of her life into her own hands. Under the pretence of attending classes, she goes to Boston, and establishes herself under the easy chaperonage of Mrs Rudolph. We hear very little of the lessons and much of the young lady's flirtations, especially with a certain Harvard boy, called Jack Gary, whom she actually arranges to marry, partly to assert her own power and partly to revenge 'herself for his mother's inteference. The episode loads up to an excellent anti-climax, while the analysis of Ruth'si emotions, intentions, and actions is almost' uncanny. At this period of her life she is a conscious poseuse. She sees herself, as it- were, from the outside, always in tho limelight, aud arranges the scene accordingly. To be. ridiculous is, therefore, the last and worst of misfortunes. Tho ,Cary episode is ridiculous. Mrs Rudolph takes her to Paris to get away from it. In Paris Ruth has some admirers' but is_ no longer the centre of attraction. This indifference only spurs her ambition for wider knowledge .of the seamy side of life. Her freedom of conduct exposes her to a .good deal of misunderstanding. Tho freedom of tho American woman is not understood in Paris. Ruth's beauty and charm and fundamental innocence protect her from much of that evil which, in her ignorance, she desires, to savour, but her second love affair with a famous Parisian playwright brings her very near tragedy This part of the tale is very well done. It shows an intimate knowledge of Parisian life and thought, and of the fundamental difference between the outlook on life of the Latin and Saxon races. This is done in a humorous and cynical manner, which does not spare the weak side of cither. It is left to a wise American, who has loved' her through many vagaries from a discreet distance, to rcsoue her self-reepect, to assist her to slough off the serpent's skin of youthful follies, and rise to tho height in which she may forget herself/ her own beauty and charm, and cease to pose as the centre of an imaginary world.

"Tho Woman's 'Harvest." By Anna Floyd. London: T. Werner Laurie. (Cloth, 2s net.) This is a remarkable book, and craves careful consideration. The story deals with a period two years after the war, and foreshadows tho astounding changes which the conflict must entail on the social and economic life of England. Not only are women occupying the places of men in the field as well as in the office, but a. corresponding change is of necessity wrought on the minds, and bodies of women. Not only do they become stronger and more self-reliant, but their whole outlook changes, and what we have been accustomed to regard as the fundamentals 'of social morality aro shaken to their very foundations. The camaraderie of the war has broken down class distinctions and united the workers of all classes so that false distinctions are cleared away, and it is possible for the daughter of a big landowning family to entertain and confer with a former draper's assistant on terms of absolute equality. Social barriers are down. Down, too, arc the invidious ditinction between town and country life. The country is no longer the abode of dullness and inefficiency. "The revolutionary storm which burst after tho war had swept away amateur legislator and professional politician alike." The patience of tho people had held out until peace was signed. Among the .first efforts of the new order was the creation of. a Board of Agriculture, which set itself to work to encourage extensive and intensive cultivation, so that in two years England was well on the road to becoming a self-sup-porting country. All the best wits of the educated classcs were centred on such problems as plant foods, the destruction of insect pests and blights, better machinery, etc.. on the reconstitution of the British, small landholder, and the co-operation of labour. "No longer did the ablest peasants flock to the towns. It was the ambitious young townsman who sought the pleasant, well-paid life of the countryside. But the women were largely and terribly in the majority. It is of their fate and protest that' this book ohirfly treats, and the subject is handled with much firmness and skill. The author is not afraid to speak out plainly on a delicate, subject, which most people are inclined to shirk., and >as a piece of cynical and shrewd prophesy this forecast will give the thoughtful much scope for serious meditation.

"Moths of the Limberlost." By Gene Stratton Porter. London, New York, ote.: Hod.li r and Stoughton. (Cloth; Is net.) The author of '' The Harvester'' ;>nd the other Limberlost stories gives .us here a work of Nature studies which will be read with interest by those who find in the nearer approach to Nature a repose of mind and body not to bo obtained in any other way. Mrs Porter puts forth no claim to be called an entomologist, and declares that she could not give " the scientific name of every least organ and nerve of a moth," or of " the thousand tiny species" which go to the ramifications of any great family. , Her experiences are personal, minute, and, therefore, deeply interesting to the ordinary, but ignorant, enthusiast. She rarely or never quotes from books —except to say how they misled her. For as she wisely remarks: " There is a wide gulf between a naturalist and a Nature-lover." This little book appeals solely to the latter class, and will be highly appreciated by it.

" How Gertrude Teaches Her Children." By J. H. Pestalozzi. Translated by L. E. Holland and F. C. Turner. With Introduction and Notes by E. Cooke. London: George' Allen and Unwin. (Cloth; 3s net.) Notwithstanding the simplicity of the title, this little book will not be found easy reading. At tho same time it is of_ great value from an educaitonal point of view, since it s avowedly " an attempt to help mothers to teach their own children according to the method and often in the very words of the famous educator, Pestalozzi." It is an important addition' to kindergarten literature, and stands second to none in importance. The translators havo spared no pains, neither have the publishers, while the editorial work is exactly what would be expected from such a lover of child nature as Mr Cooke. It is a work of prime authority among those who hold that children can learn more from observation and original thought than from dogmas, however well disguised. To kindergarten teachers tho book should be of great value, yet it is primarily for the individual mother whoso interest in her child's training is so great that she willingly devotes time and trouble to the task which often includes selftraining of a somewhat severe nature.

" Dave's Sweetheart." By Mary Gaunt. London: T. Werner Laurie. (Paper; Is.) This is a pretty, pathetic love-story. Tho scene is laid in a digging township in the back-blocks of Victoria. The heroine,, the daughter of Buck Carter, the drunken hotel and storekeeper of tho place, acts as his barmaid arid general servant. She and her stepmother are tho only women within many miles, and aro proportionately sought afterJ But the girl is a simple, loving, unspoiled child of Nature, and she fixes her affections on " black" Dave Anderson, the most worthless of her many suitors. She is, however, driven by circumstances into a marriage with Police-sergeant Sells, who is truly attached to her, but cannot win her love. Her whole heart is given to Dave, who is a murderer in hiding for his life, so she leaves her husband and goes to Davo, who treats her with the selfish cruelty natural to such a man, and tho short lovo dream ends in deepest misery.