NEW FICTION

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27670, 28 May 1955, Page 3

NEW FICTION

Return to the Wood. By J. L. Hodson. Gollancz. 253 pp. In his latest novel, J. L. Hodson returns to the subject of his first and greatest triumph, “Grey Dawn— Bed Night-” which may be remembered as a celebrated novel of the First World War often compared with “All Quiet on the Western Front.” In “Heturn to the Wood,’’ a veteran of the 1914-18 war returns with a group of fellowveterans to the well-remembered namefields. The veteran is a lawver who during the first war, defended a deserter a pathetic case, which would now be treated with compassion by the authorities—but in those days his defence was not successful, and the unfortunate man was shot. As a re suit, the lawyer became a pacifist between the wars: and he also married a wife who was a passionate pacifist Hut, as the Second World Wa? drew near and the full horror of Hitlerism dawned upon him, he abandoned his pacifism; nis wife, however, did not aid regarded him as responsible for the death of her son, who was killed in anrt e th CCOUnt ° f thiS marltai drama, and the accompanying dpbate on war and pacifism, alternate with reminiscences of the 1914-18 war «the Party ° f veterans tours Flanders and the scene shifts between past aid pl ? s ?? t w^ anl ? y topical and polemical Mr Hodson’s novel is nevertheless a pleasant and sensible, if not a profound, piece of writing. p Valley Beyond Time. Bv Vanrhnn Wilkins. Jonathan Cape. 304 p" For the reader weary of his own universe, Mr Vaughan Wilkins, in this attractive and well-written fantasy offers a journey into another and more magical “fourth-dimensional” universe It is a world which sometimes im ■ pinges upon our own world: once in seven years its cities are to be seen Kh 118 nea *Ji ‘he surface of the North Atlantic; its mountains rear their heads as islands hitherto unknown to navigators- or its woods appear on the West Coast of Ireland where woods have never been before Into this world, whose movements he has calculated with mathematical precision, voluntarily disappears an eccentric Texan millionaire-senator followed by the young son of an Irishman nobleman, and an embittered daughter who has bTcom? a “'ey fare in the othe? world, where tune and space and matVe X different from our , a 2!?„ h .SL t H lr ‘hsappearance affects those they have left behind in the "dmary 7° rld - Mr Wilkins tells in a light-hearted and readable style His romance is a very original and ingeniM S >J n onw4, l^lmCnt ’ does not Purport to be anything more. * The Battle Mound. By Crichton Portions. Robert Hale. 190 pp. nnlc) 3 that a a n intelligently-conceived novel, that does not work out quite WiXet hastoft^ 0 ’ 7 J Q onas Wisket. has left the country where he spent his childhood and made a form , the city. Now in a lonely ’ he S° es . ba ck to try to recapcompanionship and happiness of the past. He gradually finds those Uv 3e eks, t and learns the story of their lives. But none of it brings him hanni ?ess. ?°J. he fl nds that his own actions have left A trail of tragedy of novel? ?n * know - In plan it is a good X™ to « xecu ‘»on it falls short, of Plat's. Jonas never really steps out °’.. ba , CK; and vvhite, and the author ™ a £e too much use of coincidence. He makes much of the tragedy of an old fc affair 01 whose reality he Sever fully convinces us. But the book has h U nrim t »rn eCOmmend U - Mr Porte Sus countryman, and whatever the deficiencies of the story, the SL° f Fncl? h 6ly dot l e ‘ . lhe author h .countryside in his hi™ ■ ca n wrlte of the day-to-day ‘? er? n nd O 1 the hanging scene with a richness and vividness ttat redeem the book’s failings He is more than a gifted observer of scenery S dS and atutudls ? d when he writes about them he is on sure ground. Britf Candles. By Francis Gaite. Hodder and Stoughton. 189 pp. In the quest for an unusual plot Ga ‘ te . has .evolved a fascinating about tr,yial - mystery story oout two odd characters of another 75, who return to Paris as ghosts as guides to their two young cousms, the Latimer ghost-men become involved in some very awkward bv^^? en a t? ’ from which ttey „ y dl . sa PPearing. Ulysses, their “ on ,~X’ was also a casualty in an 1870 shooting affray, joins in the grades ‘°^ ke his share J 2f n tte itae! th ? ga me is to upset the experiments of an earnest society of the elder Latmaer cousins have a serious mission to accomplish before they can in a , c _ e even tually find a way S^ d d& d e e s SCendan ‘

Sold J?LS f For ‘ une - By Ernest Gann. Hodder and Stoughton. 255 pp. same IriJ ast book Mr Gann shows the marked 1 ?^ 1 . and £orce o£ style that High r u?“ us n ° v els “The Green M « ht y and "Fiddlers’ nj.r'KaJb .V™ 56 o£ abounding life his P noveu a chle£ abaracteristic of to nerhani = c A rr Z es the Present book o perhaps a higher level of success Sthn? 18 - whole . mak es it worth. The LoSs Hong Kong. China® 1 ?!? h fh h/* 6 g ot nC himlS er into sil-hX^n^d 0 Th ? l begins an ingenious aud exciting hunt for clues that laad to L° uis - This trail, set as ground S SI w a vlvldly Portrayed background of Hong Kong m its present book PP iS the best part o£ the book. But it is one of two plots In 'or for Hoyt Jane is directed Rank T P oJ° a _? expatriate American, who a des erter from the army, r, number of unscrupulous T?^n? Od A - I S S made a fortune in Hong Kong. As Mr Gann first portrays him *¥ ls _, a convincing enough personshrewd, hard, without loyalty to his country and prepared to enjoy the harvest of loose honour. But he is, we are to understand, at heart just a nice guy who is fond of children. And when he and Jane Hoyt fall violently m love (and Mr Gann manages to make this reasonably convincing) he is overcome with a sudden longing for the simple decencies and children on the hearth. This sudden conbook° n 1S lhe weakest P art o£ the

Of Masks and Minds. By Frederick E. Smith. Hutchinson. 255 pp. i Mr Smith has a theme that has i originally and importance. A brilliant composer is, according to his doctors, on the verge of insanity. An operation on the frontal lobes of his brain may restore him to normality, but may also affect his musical genius. He is too ill to give his consent: the decision rests with his wife. Will her husband, it he recovers, be grateful that his reason and perhaps his life have been purchased by sacrificing the thing that makes life worth while to him? She is in a misery of indecision, and is not helped by the arguments of relations who see the issue' in more simple terms than she does and consider normality is worth any price. A last-minute suggestion that there may be another cure makes her position even worse, and she delays decision until events force the issue. The best part of Mr Smith’s book is the skill and feeling with which he conveys the wife’s problem and her difficulty and distress. Its chief weakness lies in the solution. Mr Smith would have us believe the illness has been caused by guilt about an incident in which another member of the household the sister-in-law—shares: but it is too much to believe that anyone of the temperament that the author ascribes to her would have kept silent so long; the suggestion that she did not realise the importance of her knowledge is a feeble excuse. Yet much of the plot hangs on this silence. Mr Smith’s dialogue is at times rather artificial and stilted. But this is an intelligent book and a first novel with promise. Ash on a Young Man’s Sleeve. By Dannie Abse. Hutchinson. 200 pp. Dr. Abse is a young man who has had two books of poems printed and has contributed to literary journals. He now writes a charming novel, which deals largely with a Jewish youth, his family and friends. Each character, and they are many and varied, is first-class construction; there is a bubbling humour in almost everything. The main character’s friend, the rather pathetic Keith—trying to become a great pianist—and his drunken father, are very real persons. The hero’s exciting day-dream of how he scored a really brilliant century in a race against the clock and so saved his county will be well received by everyone who has ever played any sort of cricket.