LONELY WIVES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 94, 15 January 1920, Page 2

LONELY WIVES

WHY FICTION IS POPULAR. Jlost married women have plenty of men friends—between tlio covers of library novels. The novel is "tho way out" for thousands of women who long to enlarge their circle of acminintances, but who are nrovonted fiom doinj? so by the handicap of sex. This is why tho fiction market is supported mainly by women—and married women at that.

In the liases of novels ond in the serial storv women meet a host of characters (and particularly male characters) whom tliev never could meet in real life. Some of these characters they would not wish to meet in real lifo, others their hushands would object to; but through tho medium of tho novel an introduction can witli rjronrietv be effected.

Moralists who are by way of lamenting the yoeue of novel-rending among homestnvjmr women do not understand how eaierlv 6uch women, if intelligent, long to extend their knowledge of the world, and ho it is for them to do eo.

For the real knowledge of the world comes clueflv through contact with peoDle. And it is astonishing how few neoDle the nniet woman has a fair chance of encountering.

Her husband, if he goes into the city, meets scores of people daily—people, that. is. with whom he exchanges a sentence, perhnps even knows-rather inti'mntelv Tho wife, staying behind in her suburb, chats with a tradesman or two, a caller or two—and that is all.

How manv friends has she got? Extraordinarily few. as a rule; and marriage has perhaps narrowed instead of widened her range, inasmuch ns after marriage sho cannot go about as freelv as she did when a young girl.

At a suburban hoifsc the other night the conversation lapsed into this question of how many friends the average man usually collected compared with tho averago woman. And we started counting up our friends and making lists on Daoer. In each case the lists of tho men present were roughly ten times as long as the lists of the married women present, and from six to seven limes as long ns that of tho one unmarried "bachelor girl."

"How manv friends do you meet, to speak to. in an ordinary day of your life?" asked my hostess.

I roughly reviewed tho previous day, and found that I had met and spoken to in the city, at my lunch place, at dinner, and nt my club, a total of fortyeicht friends.

"Do voit realise that, assuming a twelve-hours day. you meet and converso with an average of four friends per hour?" said my hostess. "And do you realise that I often meet, for weeks on end. fewer than four friends per day? Yet men complain that women are not 'well informed' and are ignorant of the world.' Can you wonder? And can vou wonder that we try to make up for our- loneliness, and feed our hunger for friendsliins (and the stimulus to the flow of ideas which friendships mean), by' rendimr novels? Our lives need peopling, and the only way to people them is .ihroudi the study of modern fiction." -"Daily Mail."