There is a delicate finished personal touch in Mrs. Schoonmaker's work, that would indicate years of application. Next I slowly gathered interest in the story; not at once—it grew gradually—but later on, when the characters were well placed and a grave danger threatened the lives of several.
The flat, peaceful, limited life of rural Kentucky and its contented inhabitants is drawn in soft assured touches—the reader feels the sweetness and peace as well as the deadly dulness.
The picture of life among the studios of Paris hints at more than is said, much more; indicating a philosophic judgment; yet withholding it. There is a restraint, an economy of expression throughout; even where the writer feels most strongly.
As to the heroine—her young life-struggle is part and parcel of that universal stir and uprising among the women of to-day; so much of it blind and undirected; so much wasted and lost in reaction; so much in lines of true long-needed social evolution. This girl's share in it will be differently judged by different readers. Many of our young college women will sympathize with it most, I fancy.
THE ETERNAL FIRES
By Nancy Musselman Schoonmaker,
Broadway Pub. Co., N. Y.
*
Dr. Stanton Coit, prominent in ethical and social advance in England, is a valuable supporter of the woman's movement. His booklet, "Women in Church and State," is a concise and impressive presentation of her position in those great social bodies. He treats of the militant movement in England, its wise period of quiescence, and offers reasonable suggestions as to further policy.
The attitude of the church toward women, from the miserable past up through the changing present to the hopeful future, is given succinctly, and the unfortunate reaction of a servile womanhood upon the church is shown.
It is a clear presentation of the relation of woman to the state, in politics, education, marriage and the home.
This booklet is for sale, in England, as one of the Ethical Message
Series, at 6d. net; and may be rebound for American circulation, at 15c.