The author of two stunt short novels does his first full length novel, a cross sectioning of a boarding house in New York on Christmas eve. The city takes the first lead, in all its immensity, and indifference, its drama and its inhumanity. Next come Mrs. Fanjoy's boarders, a grandmother neglected by her only three relatives; Hans, a refugee, with nothing to distract him from his aloneness; Betty, whose affair with Joe has landed her in trouble; Mr. Kittredge, fifty and denied all pleasures as his physical disabilities restrain him; and Mrs. Fanjoy, proprietor, living comfortably for herself. Christmas Eve brings its own measure of consolation to all of them. Realism in handling, mellowed with a touch of sentiment; good enough, though a trifle reminiscent. Definitely should come under the eagle eye of librarians for careful distribution.