AFTER A HUNDRED YEARS

This book proves that Ruth McKee did not need the capital supplied by an odd corner of history such as used in The Lord's Annointed to spin a good yarn. Here we have her islands -- the Hawaiian Islands -- and the descendants of the missionary band, 100 years old. The span of the story are the years 1920-1934, during which Constancy's great grandson, Hal, brings his fear-ridden wife, Madge, to Honolulu, to seek contentment. She finds success -- and independence -- in her newly discovered gift for satirical writing; his writing makes small advance -- and they drift apart. There are phases of the story not written for Sunday School audiences -- the language of the young moderns is a bit free at times; there is a hint of Lesbianism in Madge's use of her friend, Bridget. A first rate novel, against a setting that has not been outmoded.