SONS OF THE FATHERS

There is a deliberate timeliness about this novel, which emerges as a strong plea for isolation, a stand deep rooted in the reasons which brought many immigrants to our shores. This is the story of a Jewish immigrant family in Chicago, before the last war, the parents, having escaped from the old country to save their sons the burden of conscription. Then comes the war. The older son enlists, keeping his whereabouts a secret from his mother, when he is sent to France. The younger son goes west to farm, and so escapes the draft. And the Armistice comes, finding the mother convinced that her son will be home immediately -- and completely unprepared for the news that he was killed just before the Armistice was signed. The strength of the book lies in the vivid portrayal of the struggle to earn a living in a new world, of the gradual emergence of American ideals -- and of the remoteness from the European scene and problems, once they have severed their connections and put down roots in the new country. The psychology of the convinced isolationist, a loyal American, is reflected the country over today, and is sympathetically and convincingly handled. Halper is associated with rather leftish industrial fiction. This has none of that element.