Eurasian Theme in Sincere Tale

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 32, 20 January 1939, Page 16

Eurasian Theme in Sincere Tale

HE Eurasian theme in fiction is old. It has been exploited. in various ways, sometimes effectively, sometimes shoddily. It-is used again, very sincerely, in’ "Like Water Flowing," a . first-novel by Margaret Mackay, who has been in China since 1931, and: is the Wife of the manager of the hnperial Hotel at Tienisin. The heroine of the story is a Eurasian,.not of. the. lower. order,

but the daughter of a British scholar and a Chinese mother. She fails in love with an English Army officer, only to be jilted when that worthy’s family refuse to have a Bali-caste in their midst. From then on, the girl’s struggle against the prejudice shown hy the "whites" against her kind, is most convincingly told. She resents China and all that it halds; resents the accident of her birth. But in the end, although she realises that "as long as she lived, she would have to accept the little shocks and slights which come to every one of her blood," a new day dawns for her when she _ finds happiness with one of her own class, a Eurasian architect with a brilliant future: The story is presented with a simple and appealing sincerity. The anthor is at her best in describing the Chinese country and manners. She has an enthusiastic champion in Pearl Buck who, of ali people, knows her China--A.R.M. ‘ "Like ‘Water Flowing." Margaret Mackay. Harrap, London. Our copy From :the. "pyalisheres wa IWodet aes: aD x yey ee yt