[1] Lyman Abbott.
Yours very truly,
BEATRICE VAIL ABBOTT.
London, England,
April 15, 1913.
In reply to your letter of April 1st, written on behalf of the American Library Association, I do consider that to a certain extent the fiction circulated in the public libraries of the United States does help to enlighten the people on social and economic problems. But I am bound to say that I think that we novelists might do a very great deal more in this direction if
we would avoid sentimentalizing the truth in order to make it seem more palatable, and also if we would adopt the habit of describing more completely the general social background against which our leading figures live and move.
Believe me, Yours faithfully,
ARNOLD BENNETT.