THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN GERMANY.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR...]
Srn,—In reviewing Professor Usher's book entitled " Pan- Germanism" you remark that he does not evince "a close personal acquaintance with Germany and Germans." In order to acquire this I would commend Rudolph Stratz's most interesting new novel, entitled "Seine englische Frau" (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1913. Cotta), in which we find, stated by a leading German writer, not merely the essential differ- ences between life in Germany and England, but also the reasons why Germans have taken umbrage at the policy of Britain. The novelist is also an extremely fair critic, and refers, with occasional touches of satire, to details of German life which those of us who have lived in Germany know to be true. Take, for example, this outburst of " the English wife" when her husband, a lieutenant in the German army, urges her to return with him from England to Germany at the termination of his leave: " Germany is a dreadful country. The men drink beer and the women coffee. When I go to the post office the officials are rude to me. When I travel by railway the officials are also rude to me. When I go to the public park and step on the grass the park officer comes and shouts at me. No one makes room for me politely in the street. Oh, it is no country for a lady!" Of course, there is exaggeration here, but still there is more than one grain of
Previous page
