Books: Last Novel

THE BUCCANEERS—Edith Wharton— Appleton-Century ($2.50).

Death last year ended Edith Wharton's work on a novel which might have been her masterpiece. She had written 29 chapters of a book apparently planned to run to about 35 chapters. The story had reached its climax; the characters were at a moment in their careers when they were compelled to make irrevocable decisions. While Mrs. Wharton left notes suggesting how she intended to end the novel, she gave no hint of how she intended to solve its moral and esthetic problems. Last week her literary executor,...