NEW FICTION

Press, Volume C, Issue 29518, 20 May 1961, Page 3

NEW FICTION

A Stoile from the Brook. By Robert Greenwood. Hodder and Stoughton. 319 PP. Mr Greenwood knows the Midlands and the North Country as well as the palm of his hand; and in his latest novel he presents a portrait gallery of hard-bitten Yorkshire people. In writing “A Storie from the Brook,” the author has had the story of David and Goliath in mind, i Sid Robinson was Goliath, in the sense that it did not take much to . bring him down, once the trick of it could be discovered. He had made his fortune, it seemed, by dint of frugality and unremitting effort. His bobbin mill was one of the best in the country. Unfortunately he had obtained his first financial interest in. it as the result of a fraudulent act, and this was known to James Aldred, who presumably stands for David in this tale. But Aldred's motives were hardly pure; he had never forgiven Robinson for taking a girl of the village,- Maud Pascoe, as his mistress. Aldred himself had always had a sneaking admiration for Maud. Another source of trouble for Robinson was his son, Alan, who was to be made into a gentleman at all costs. But Alan was not interested in a university education and hoped to marry a girl who seemed Ito his father to be hopelessly inferior. It is this, together with Aldred's persistent probings, that brings about the final catastrophe. “A Stone from the Brook” is a dour but memorable novel. South of the Angels, By Jessamyn West. Hodder and Stoughton. 564 pp. This is one of those formidable American epics which wring from a reviewer the anguished if pious ejaculation “Oh Lord, how long?” It could, in fact, without detriment to its skilfully-woven theme have been condensed to half its length. Pages of rather soggy introspection could have been eliminated, especially thoje of a sentimental or amatory nature, but in happy contrast to this supercharged emotionalism is a rapier wit and a wonderful command of the descriptive phrase. The story set in an undeveloped part of Southern California in the middle of the 1914-18 War. Here have settled a number of families frdrri different parts of the United States lured by the advertisements of the Perkins Investment Company which has offered them parcels of “frost-free” land, ripe for the cultivation of citrus fruits. Water is admittedly scarce, but Sylvester Perkins, the company’s silver-tongued president, has promised a good supply-in the near futi ure, exacting, of course, cerI tain financial commitments from the settlers as a contribution to the cost of irrigation. .The action of the book covers a period of nine months, and the personal stories of some 30 characters are given in detail including their troubled love affairs. It is .significant that those who stand out memorably are the exceptions to an amorous merry-go-round. Jessatnyn West’writes with the inspiration of one Who loves her craft, and those readers who can", digest “earthy" Action will Appreciate the expertise with which she unfolds her story.

The Shores of the Night. By Robert Muller. Eyre and Spotiswoode. 281 pp. Denham, successful head of a Fleet Street agency, senses that his career has reached a climax and that personally he is at a stage where his mental and physical powers are receding. He has. in fact, reached “the shores of the night.’’ His unease is increased by his wife—a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany—whose increasing neuroticism is causing him embarrassment in public and private. Denham undertakes a reporting mission to Germany, believing the work may restore to him confidence in his creative ability. His wife joins him and the time spent in Germany causes tension to mount in her fragile mind and is responsible for the calamity that eventually overtakes her. In the meantime Denham has an affair with a television personality; sordid happenings behind the flamboyant facade of a friend's life are exposed to him: a trusted business associate turns out to be a fraud. This is a strong novel, compassionate and moving in some respect, but chiefly a ruthless exposure of male and female character, Mr Muller's prose style is taut; his character’s live. The book is a worthy successor to “The World That Summer." The Blue Tree. By Mary Fairclough. Duckworth. 200 pp. At first sight Mary Fairclough’s book looks as if it were intended for children, for it is obviously a fanciful Eastern story, with a flavour of the Arabian Nights about it. But on closer inspection it turns out to be something rather more ambitious, although it would still-be comprehended by intelligent girl and boys as well as by older readers. The author has created a small world of the imagination in the two contrasted kingdoms, Lamissar and Kashkot. the one “open to every wind that blew," the other enclosed by natural barriers and unfriendly to strangers. Khalid and Barmek, two young men from the uplands, find themselves, almost by enchantment it seems, called to positions of supreme power in Kashkot. Their relations in peace and war with the mysterious inhabitants of the other kingdom, including the beautiful Daughter of Douban, occupy an important place in “The Blue Tree”; but there are hosts of characters and dozens of episodes of fascinating complexity. Mary Fairclough is a clever story-teller and the incidents she relates fit one into another like Chinese boxes. The Blue Tree, incidentally. is a charm to be used against wizards.

Death In Covert. By CoUn Willock. Heineman. 239 PPColin Willock is perhaps better known as a writer on fishing and shooting, than as the author of a number of murder mysteries. Here, as the title implies, he makes use of his knowledge of sport to provide an authentic background for his mystery. His taciturn hero, Nathaniel Goss. joins a shooting syndicate not far from London. Its members, without exception, dislike each other heartily, but conceal their antipathy in the interests of sport, until one of their number suffers a fatal accident in the field.

The question is, was it an accident? His suspicions aroused, Mr Goss starts to investigate with the inevitable result. Mr Willock writes easily and unpretentiously, and show’s a skilled delicacy in the portrayal of character. His portraits of the nouveau riche, snobbish members of the syndicate are witty and alive. The suspense of the story is kept up throughout. There is a nice line in booby traps, and an entertaining twist at the end.