NEW FICTION

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28938, 4 July 1959, Page 3

NEW FICTION

Jfv Friends the Mta Boyd*. By Jane Duncan. MaanilUn 283 pp. Th» nublishers tell u« that- thi.

The publishers tell us that this is the first of seven chronicles o f Jane Duncan’s “friendships” to be published; the other six, they say, have in full measure the entertainment value of the first. With this assurance the reader may well feel that a new author of some stature has arisen, and that the "higher eddication" Jon which little Janet Sandisoh qualified was fully justified by the results. Reachfar, Janet’s home in Rosshire, was a croft owned by her grandfather who had been grieve to the local laird Sir Torquil Daviot. In the later inoihths of 1918, when she was eight years old, her story begins Though the only bairn in an adult household Janet was in no way spoiled, and she continually demonstrates the solid virtues and sound values which directed the course of human affairs in the Highlands of her youth. Into this sober and self-respecting community burst the Miss Boyds, all 1 six of them, to occupy the’ property of Achcraggan bequeathed to them by their papa a successful “unctioneer.” Janet became fully conscious that year of the meaning of the dire phrase “old maids.” Though drama and humour alike attended the aojigs-on of the Misses Boyd it is Janet’s lively description of bet world which gives the book its chief value. The yearly visit of the coal-boat—especially its arrival on Armistice Day—the mutual understanding that illumined the relationship between the laird’s family and the grieve’s; the joyous social occasion known as the “harvest home,” and other features of the simple harmonious lives led by a genuinely Christian community all go to make up the contents of a most readable volume.

Music for Mohini. By Bhabani Bhattacharya. Angus and ■ Robertson. 222 pp. “Music for Mohini” is another attractive novel published in England by the Australian house of Angus and Robertson. Mohini is a proud young Brahmin girl, accomplished and of good family. The time has come when, according to custom, she must marry and, of course, marry welt Her father advertises in the newspaper “Wanted a suitable match for a handsome, educated girl of charming disposition. Highly gifted radio singer.” The applicants are a mixed lot, and the choice is made more difficult in that Mohini has a mind of her own and rather advanced ideas. However, when she is finally betrothed to Jayadev, already a distinguished scholar and writer, it would seem thaj her ideal is about to tie realised. But it is not as easy as that, and Mohini has to travel a difficult road before the discords in her life are resolved. “Music for Mohini” is not a novel to forget. It is a fine and detailed work in which every phrase has been pondered with affectionate care.

With a Flag and a Bucket and a Gun. By A. H. Barton. Hodder and Stoughton. 192 PPi

This light-hearted extravaganza is set in the sacred precincts of the Royal Naval College at Greenwic h. an establishment with which the author is evidently familiar. Here, Commander John Cranmer is busy perfecting a guided missile which will render the battleship virtually superfluous. Here, too, is his younger brother Lieutenant Colin Cranmer, while the girl who both of them love, Jennifer Troup, is the daughter of the Admiral President of the R.N.C. Into the lives of all of them obtrudes the disembodied but warmly-enraged spirit of Vice-Admiral William Stamp, late (about 120 years or so) of the Royal Navy, who has been granted a few days Earth-leave to confound John’s plans and keep the Navy in its proper element. ■This redoubtable sea-dog is visible only to Colin and Jennifer, with whom he converses and makes clear his plans to throw a spanner into the mechanism of the projected missile. Mischievous cadets, a couple of unicycles, a boomerang and sundry naval types all play their part in the action of a fast moving tale. There is a touch of eeriness in the ball on the Cutty Sark, to which the ghost-admiral invites his two earthly protegees, for they find themselves dancing with temporarily animated wooden figureheads, and witness the development of a romance between Hiawatha (“Minnehaha doesn’t understand me”) and Florence Nightingale. This is a spirited and witty excursion into fantasy, with some brilliantly conceived dialogue.

World in a Jug. By Roland Gant. Cape. 220 pp.

The first noticeable thing about “World in a Jug” is that it is written with American seriousness. Mr Gant begins at the very beginning on page one, “My name is Larry Alden and maybe you’ll only know it if you have a long memory or a stack of vintage jazz records.” From there Larry goes straight ahead, making his purposeful jokes, and summing up Experience in a thoughtful. moderate way. It seems unkind to become bored with him He is So typical and so agreeable to nearly everyone he meets. As the story progresses he develops a tendency to grow more and more resigned, and it is hard not to feel more sympathetic. Probably the most important event in the book is Larry’s sudden acquisition of a ward, a coloured girl named Barbara. Larry is bringing her up very well, and when the book ends he is just recovering from a heart attack, and, in consequence, is becoming more deliberate than ever.

A Kind Of Fighting. By Patrick Cruttwell. Dent. 272 pp.

Though classed as a novel for reasons that reveal themselves as it proceeds, this book furnishes an example of contemporary history. The narrator of the story, Hbnry Little, is Professor of history in the University of Port Randolph, Capital of Sagha, a small British-administered state on the borders of India. One of his pupils, Lin Soe, is, at 19, an ardent nationalist and is imbued with the single-minded purpose of securing self-government for his country. When the Japanese overrun Sagha, Lin Soe, who has gathered round him a band of devoted followers, is prepared to assist the invaders provided that they agree to recognise his claims for Saghan independence. The Japanese pay lip-service to this condition. When the British return to Sagha as liberators, and prepare to resume their administrative functions on the understanding that Sagha will gradually achieve independence, Lin Soe, now designated thp Dinzaw (leader) by a large proportion of his people, declines to co-operate with them and demands their immediate withdrawal. The Labour Government in England backs his claims, and in a bewildered state of unreadiness the new independent Sagha acquires an uneasy freedom, only to lose its leader by assassination, and to be plunged into civil upheaval., The story bears the stamp of recent happenings, and whether true or hypothetical it poses one of the acute problems of this age. The author is plainly concerned to give an objective picture ot a country anxious to work out its own destiny, yet too immature, politically, for its difficult task. Patrick Cruttwell was born in Assam of English parents and has held academic appointments in Commonwealth countries, and so has a first-hand knowledge of his subject. He has written a thought-provoking and significant book.

The Bystander. By Albert J. Guerard. Faber. 197 pp.

What the reader takes from Mr Guerard’s latest novel is an atmosphere of sad, resigned emptiness. It is all very civilised, most disillusioned, and very French. Everything goes wrong for the narrator of the story. Anthony is an expatriate, who describes himself as “writer, artist, translator, hack; gambler, sensualist, fool.” As a youth he meets for a moment a rising young French actress, Christiane Mondor. He is greatly impressed, and despite his preoccupation with gambling, he is unable to forget her. As time goes by it seems that neither her career nor his is likely to be particularly rewarding. “Christiane seemed to have a talent for the spectacular mistake, I for the miserable one.” When, years later, they meet by accident in Nice, their brief friendship is soon poisoned. In fact, another man controls Christiane’s every action, and all that is left for Anthony is a horrible little waitress in a sordid hotel