MIDDLE-AGE AND YOUTH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 253, 24 October 1936, Page 2 (Supplement)

MIDDLE-AGE AND YOUTH.

NEEIiE SCANLAN'S NOVEI*.

Nellie M. Scanlan's new novel, "The Marriage of Nicholas Cotter" (Robert I Hale), has not the breathless and impetuous style of her "Pencarrow' novels; it has a cohesion and a general mellowing of technique that her earlier books have lacked, but this is offset by a certain lack of freshness and charm which may be due to her adoption of a more conventional and sophisticated setting. The hero of the story is a London barrister, a species somewhat hardworked by novelists. He is middle-aged, livino- a comfortable and well-ordered life, "when, in his fiftieth year, he falls in love with a very young and ingenuous red-haired person, and in spite of his sister's subtle efforts to prevent it marries her. Miss Scanlan is more skilful with hei minor characters than with her principals; and throughout the story there are illuminating little touches that seem infinitely mpre truthful than the crises. Mrs. Buck, the woman who "does for Mr. Cotter at his country cottage, Kate, his younger sister, and particularly j Perry, his schoolboy nephew, leave a vivid impression with the reader, while the major characters remain somewhat shadowy. It is a readable story, but one of no great distinction. Miss Scanlan's admirers will regret that in improving lier technique she has lost the warmth and sincerity of the "Pencarrow" books, and it is to be hoped that her future novels may combine the two.