+ El School J 21:318 D ’20 220w
WOODWORTH, HERBERT G. In the shadow of Lantern street. *$1.75 (1½c) Small
20–3063
The hero of this story is a little boy in China when the story opens. He knows nothing of his parentage and believes himself to be Chinese. But he really is white and his American father, altho unwilling to recognize his son, still takes him, at sixteen, back to the United States and educates him. Most of the story is taken up with the tale of the young man’s striving to accommodate himself to American ideals, especially in relation to women. Two women come into his life, Bess and Barbara. To Bess he found marriage to mean the reversal of the Chinese idea—her husband was to become her chattel. Fortunately he found out in time and with Barbara is promised the happiness that comes with love that means partnership.
“It is apparent that Mr Woodworth knows China well, for he has framed in these early pages a picture that is very foreign and that contains a large number of realistic details. If Mr Woodworth had succeeded in keeping his entire novel as vivid as these early chapters it would have been no mean achievement.” D. L. M.
+ − Boston Transcript p9 My 8 ’20 1000w
“There is some good material in the book, but the treatment lacks color, and shows no sense either of dramatic values, of style or of character. Such faint interest as the story has flickers out entirely as soon as the hero leaves China, which he does on the sixty-third page.”
− + N Y Times 25:4 Mr 7 ’20 300w
“The early portions of the narrative are interesting because of an atmosphere of adventure and exploration; the later phases are speculative and analytical.”