By M. P. WILLCOCKS
Author of “Change,” “The Wings of Desire,” “The Power Behind,” etc.
Miss Willcocks’ new novel is the story of one who regained his eyesight after an operation with most disconcerting results. We are often told that it is folly to be wise if ignorance is bliss. In this novel we are asked whether, if blindness means happiness, one should therefore shrink from the light. It is a story more intense in its drama than her recent books, since, like “Wings of Desire,” it deals mainly with West Country types, and, like “The Wingless Victory,” it is a novel of temptation and of the love that conquered after a hard fight. Miss Willcocks has gone back to the old simple things that are as old as man and woman, though here, too, there is the interest of opposing social and religious atmospheres, and here again many of the “saints” are but whited sepulchres.
The Citadel
By CECILIA HILL
With an Introduction by EMILE CAMMAERTS
The story opens with the schooldays of Catherine Buckland at the old Belgian town of Dinant, the Citadel of which, in its dominating position, is impressed potently on her consciousness. In England she meets two men, who are friends, and who are both attracted by her. She becomes engaged to one of them, a devout Catholic, and whose mother is a fanatical one. She had vowed her son to the priesthood, but he turns his back on it, though in his heart he had heard the call. Later, the call comes again. The closing scenes are in Dinant, and a remarkably convincing description is given of the siege and sack of the town by the Huns. The novel is noteworthy for its fine feminine quality and charm, and for its interesting and natural characters.
She Who Meant Well
By CURTIS YORKE
Author of “Disentangled,” “Her Measure,” etc.