Sapphira and the Slave Girl

A CAMEO novel whose brevity is misleading, since it will not be taken in by the quick glance. Outwardly it lacks the tumult and temptation of The Lost Lady — the surface is unruffled, the conflict suppressed. But the antagonisms, the loyalties are there, sensitive and perceptible beneath the surface: you feel them with increasing force in the relation between Henry and Sapphira Colbert, and as the story kindles your curiosity you feel them in the less familiar relationship between Missy and her slaves. In the beauty of line and the almost perfect selection of detail this novel does Miss Cather proud. To me it recalls the neglected but equally lovely story, The Trader’s Wife, by Jean Kenyon Mackenzie.

E. W.