+ Survey 43:592 F 14 ’20 320w
NORRIS, KATHLEEN (THOMPSON) (MRS CHARLES GILMAN NORRIS). Harriet and the piper. il *$1.90 (2c) Doubleday
20–13977
Harriet Fields had an emotional adventure when she was seventeen, and her romantic fancy was captured by Royal Blondin’s talk on Yogi philosophy, oriental religion and poetry. She even went through a bogus marriage ceremony with him when her youthful timorousness saved her from further disaster. Ten years later, when she is filling a position of trust, as companion to the wife of the rich Richard Carter and governess to his daughter Nina, Blondin crosses her path again holding their former relationship over her as a sword, to enlist her aid in the furtherance of his new schemes, i. e., marrying young Nina Carter and possessing himself of her fortune. It involves Harriet in many temptations. Twixt the overcoming of and yielding to them her character is clarified. After Mrs Carter’s elopement and sudden death, Harriet enters a marriage of convenience with Richard Carter, whom she secretly loves and admires and the wooing by the husband of his new wife forms part of the interest of the book.
“A lively and interesting story.”
+ − Ath p813 D 10 ’20 60w Booklist 17:35 O ’20
“Well worn, even threadbare as her material is, Kathleen Norris has contrived to concoct from it a very pleasant little story, and one which holds the reader’s attention until the last half dozen chapters, when it begins to drag badly. It is smoothly written, and agreeable to read.”
+ − N Y Times p24 Ag 1 ’20 950w
“Readers who can put aside the insubstantial theme and the artificial dilemmas attributed to the principals, will find some entertainment in the flow of life and color through their vaguely troubled days.”