REVIEWS OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS BY ALUMNI AND FACULTY TORY TAVERN

By Henry Barnard Safford'04, Wm. Penn Publishing Corp., 1942. 389pages. $2.50.

THIS IS ONE of the many novels of the past few years set in those times which "tried men's souls" and using the conflict between Tory and Patriot as its predominant theme. In this story the younger son of a prominent Tory family on Long Island espouses the American cause and encounters more than the usual run o£ thrilling experiences as impressed seaman, spy, and prisoner. In one way or another he meets up with such prominent figures as Ethan Allen, Nathan Hale, Major Andr£, John Jay, Timothy Pickering, and General Washington, and at the climax of the story is able, indirectly, to send warning of Benedict Arnold's proposed treason.

The historical setting is authentic in spirit and the novel includes interesting side-lights which illuminate the life and manners of those days and recall some half-forgotten incidents of the struggle. Early in the story, for example, the author describes a "sheep parting" on Hempstead Plain, and toward the climax of the story we are introduced to Peter Townsend, the iron-monger of Oyster Bay who forged the giant five-hundred yard chain which Thadeus Kosciuszko stretched across the Hudson as part of the defenses of West Point. Again we are reminded of John Jay's part in the development of the Secret Intelligence Department (5.1.D.) and its use of messages in code.

One detects a similar style and technique to that of some earlier historical novels of Dr. Safford and in the opinion of this reviewer a less successful use than in such a story as ThatBennington Mob (1935). In that story the doctor was dealing with events bound close to his own family history and though lacking perhaps a little in historical perspective the plot had a certain freshness and conviction. Tory Tavern, on the other hand, encounters stiffer competition in its field and one puts it down with the feeling that it is just another novel of the American Revolution.