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The Significance. Writer Sanborn's story is simply told, absorbing despite its great length. Percy Hutchison, staff reviewer of the New York Times, has found it truly Flaubertian. Soprano Amelita Galli-Curci says of it: "Any singer who knows the ins and outs of the operatic stage both here and in Europe will recognize the truth to fact." That the musical details are correct, no one will dispute. That the sufferings of so cold and untemperamented a person as Helma are a little overdrawn, verging too near melodrama, is more a matter for argument. Helma is too closely akin to the trite, untrue picture of the prima donna. The seven men are more expertly characterized.
The Author. John Pitts Sanborn has reason to base his novel on music. Soon after leaving Harvard (1902) he went to assist Critic H. T. Parker on the now defunct New York Globe, succeeded Parker there as editor and critic, whence he went to the late Evening Mail, then to the Telegram for which he now writes daily criticisms that are boldly authentic and tinged with venom. In appearance he is round, cherubic; in essence a dilettante who likes cats, first editions, liqueurs, Mozart and politics. He speaks French, German, Italian, Spanish, is always worrying about his health. He has written many magazine articles. Prima Donna is his first novel.