White-Eyed Woman

A WOMAN WITH WHITE EYES--Mary Borden--Doubleday, Doran ($2).* Authoress Mary Borden, U. S.born, has lived many years in Europe. Like her heroine she married an Englishman, but her emotional pen, in spite of all temptations, refuses to be expatriate. You would never accuse the author of this undammed narrative of being a reticent British-woman.

The hero of her tale is a strange Finn. Dr. Tawaska. A cold, mysterious fish of a man, he travels unobtrusively over the world, investigating occult mysteries, appearing at long intervals to Caroline, "the woman with white eyes," to listen unsympathetically to her news, to announce that life is literally a dream, to accuse her of being asleep. "You are asleep with your eyes not quite closed, slits of white showing." Caroline invariably admits the truth of his suave impeachment but to date (aetat. 60) has done nothing much about it except call for madder music, stronger wine. At last, however, she retires to a New England cottage to write her reminiscences, get them off her mind. Then she will go some other place, do something else.

Daughter of a rich California family, Caroline was early made a globetrotter by her restless mother. In China she met Maggie, also from the U. S., and became her bosom friend. When Maggie married dashing Buck Dawson, British naval officer, Caroline followed her friend to England. While she watched the Dawsons' stormy married life Caroline took old Aristocrat Hugo as her fatherly lover. When she accidentally had a baby and Hugo's old wife died he wanted to do the right thing by her. To prevent him she married worthless Jock, gentleman rider and latent cad. He left her for Adventuress Sonia, who got as much money from him as she could, then set her cap at Maggie's husband. Maggie was a fighter and a single-minded woman: when she lost Buck she lost everything. The last time Caroline saw her friend was in Paris, where Maggie came for an abortion and died in a charity hospital. Then came the War, and Caroline worked as a nurse in the daytime, at night as a proxy sweetheart for homesick soldiers. In post-War Paris she was one of the loudest maenads. One day she decided to take old Tawaska's advice, go off in her own company and have a look at herself. Caroline may not be Authoress Borden's mouthpiece, but Caroline has a low opinion of men, and her experience would seem to justify it. Only the queer (and apparently celibate) Tawaska has her admiration. However emotional her judgments, she is introspective, and gains sympathetic agreement when she considers herself an awful fool. You may be annoyed at her careless morality, but the passionate way she went at things will make you admit she had more than her share of courage. The Author. Mary Borden's husband is Brig. General Edward Louis Spears, one-time M. P., with whom she lives in one of London's old houses behind Westminster Abbey. When her husband stands for Parliament, she helps his campaign by many a speech. When he sits there, she goes to her seaside cottage and writes novels. In appearance she suggests what Helen Wills Moody will look like at 35. Other novels: The Romantic Woman, Jane--Our Stranger, Three Pilgrims and A Tinker, Flamingo.

Published Nov. 7.

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