The books of Charles W. Chesnutt, dealing with the "problems" that arise out of the "race question" in the Southern States, have become a recognized part of American literature. His latest one, "The Marrow of Tradition," is no doubt the most powerful he has yet written. It is a story, rapidly told, of a series of events in a Southern town, Wellington, including a "race riot," a threatened lynching, and other features that have been made only too familiar in recent times. Readers of his books will find in them extraordinary literary ability; they recall "Uncle Tom's Cabin" itself.
(Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.50.)