NEW FICTION

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29016, 3 October 1959, Page 3

NEW FICTION

White Elephant. By Mary Scott. Paul. 201 pp. ' Another book by Mary Scott will bring a good deal of pleasure, white elephant” is the rueful name given by Jane Lee to the old house she has inherited on the isolated Tui Peninsula, go far she has managed to let it, but now it is going to be left on her hands, and to bring bankruptcy nearer she loses her iob as secretary to a peppery lawyer when he evinces, not for the first time, sharp irritation at her inability to spell. Jane and her beautiful cousin Katharine, decide that if the house cannot he sold they must turn it into a guest-house. On settling down in the peninsula they are warmly befriended by a number of wellwishers including a delightful Maori and his mother, and they plunge into their new venture with enthusiasm. The two girls make a success of the guest house though they have to cope with gome unexpected difficulties including an “ideal couple” whose holiday is interrupted by the arrival of the woman’s infuriated husband, an amiable kleptomaniac, and two young men who try to do an early-morning flit without paying their bill. Mary Scott has once again mixed a homebrew which is both wholesome and palatable.

The Vine of Dark Grapes. By Livia de Stefani, Eyre and Spottiswoode. 224 ppfl

This is a novel of Sicilian life, but it proves to be anything but idyllic in tone Casimiro Badalamenti and his wife Concetta seem not to belong to the modern world at all. They are primitive in their strength and in the violence of their response to challenge. He is ruthless: his temper has been warped by suffering. It is no matter for surprise that his two children grow up in terror of him. He has the peasant’s passion for the soil, and this passion he is determined his son shall share. But as might be expected Nicola rebels. He hates his father by now, and the conflict between the two is embittered. As a direct result of this, the daughter, Rosaria, loses her life in terrible circumstances, and the final pages of this powerful novel show the survivors moving with painful inevitability towards their fate.

Pueblo. By Michel-Droit. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 237 pp.

For most readers “Pueblo” will be an introduction to yet another aspect of the racial problem. This novel, a translation from the French made by Edyard Hyams, illustrates the position of Red Indians in the United States today. In the opinion of a sensitive and intelligent Indian youth like Paco Lovaria the restrictions outweigh the benefits offered by a benevolent government. Provided Paco is content to live on the reservation and be part of the show put on to please the tourists, he will be protected and to a considerable degree looked after. But it is apparently impossible for him ever to be an ordinary American. His own sister’s curious history is never far from Paco’s thoughts. Because she is a genius she is accepted in the outer world. She made a name for herself as a scientist engaged in nuclear-energy research in California. Then suddenly, disillusioned by the tragedy of Hiroshima, she renounced the world of “civilisation,” and returned to the pueblo to make a humble living from the traditional Indian crafts. In his last year at school Paco finds a faithful friend in an exiled Russian girl, Lydia, who encourages him in his artistic interests. But as time goes by he loses hope of ever making for himself a career that will satisfy his ambitions. To aim at anything more than the traditional pursuits of Indian life seems futile. Paco is defeated, and the conclusion of this fine novel is uncompromisingly tragic.

The Gay Pretensions. By Florence Preston. Cassell. 247 pp. Miss Preston’s latest novel takes place for the most part in Christchurch and then moves on to Wellington province, so that it is likely to be of more than usual interest to readers in this country. It is a pathetic story, for Caroline Culzean, who is an impulsive, rather confiding girl, falls in love with quite the wrong person in Joe Morvern. To Morvern this is just another affair. lie is already losing interest in Caroline, when she finds she is going to have a child. This is bad enough, but when she discovers he is beginning an affair with the woman she has up till then regarded as her mother, life becomes too complicated. She attempts to poison Joe. The trial that follows is described in full, and as a consequence of it Caroline is sent to Borstal to serve a short sentence. The expedient by means of which Miss Preston enables Caroline to find some happiness in life after all, is ingenious; it need not be discussed here; but it will probably give most readers food for thought. The Sign of Taurus. By William Fifield. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 367 pp.

William Fifield’s second novel is a work of considerable originality. It is certainly one of the best American novels of the year. Countess Potolska has been a person of wealth and position in Warsaw before 1939. Now, at the age of 50, she is a refugee, with bitter memories of the concentration camp, and an exile in Central America. In Cuba she meets a young Italian, Guido Focardi, similarly placed to herself. Because he reminds her of her own son, she takes an interest in him. The countess has remarkable psychic powers, and earns a living by telling fortunes for tourists. But she is also able to foresee accurately events in which she and her protege will be involved, and this is painfully exemplified in the unfolding of Guido's relations with the impetuous Judith Riordan. “The Sign of Taurus” touches life on many sides and will be long remembered by those who read it.

The Southern Wild. By Ruth Chatterton. Harrap. 445 pp.

This novel is Ruth Chatterton’s contribution to the colour problem in the deep South of the United States. It will be read with interest at the present time, for the author has obviously been deeply perturbed by the tragedy of racial inequality. Miss Chatterton is at her best in the story of the two coloured people, Jane Carter and Matt Johnson, who face their troubles with moving dignity. Rachel Meredith is perhaps less convincing. “The Southern Wild,” however, presents a great variety of characters of all types. They come together to make up an intricate plot, and in spite of the lushness of Miss Chatterton’s style, the story may fairly be described as powerful.