Monastery Guide

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 88, 15 April 1939, Page 10 (Supplement)

Monastery Guide

*K ROGER VERCEL, the IVl* author of- "Tugboat," reviewed a year or two ago in these columns, specialises in stories rather about places and things than about people. In his most recent book, "St. Michael Puts His Foot Down" (Harrap), translated from the French by Mr. W. B. Wells, M. Vercel sets his scene in the island monastery of St. Michel in Brittany. Here Andre Brelet, with his wife Laura, formerly prosperous but ruined by the slump, comes to take up a position as official guide. It is a menial job, and the discipline, the company and such matters as the taking of tips, all gall Andre, but Laura, who is pure snob from head to foot, revolts much more than her husband.' Their reactions to the experience are interestingly worked out, but even more interesting are the descriptions of the wonders of Mont St. Michel and of the "incidental" characters—peasants, innkeepers and cockle-gatherers, who one feels are drawn from the very life. The author paints his stage scenery with the hand of a master, and this book will serve to enhance his already considerable reputation.