FROM THE NEW FICTION LISTS

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33095, 9 December 1972, Page 10

FROM THE NEW FICTION LISTS

The Events of that Week. By Nicolas Bentley. Coffins. 190 pp.

In this book the author has employed his narrative skill to describe a situation that might presumably happen to any innocent foreigner holidaying in Sicily. Charles Brighouse is an English author who is staying in Palermo, and has hired a car in order to see somethe island. In his hotel he van Str4K? u y American « irl . Theresa r^anS-bnJ n L} hey en * y * b * ef after their alone in his a station on a lonely^J o LP? t £° l . firmly ordered by the owr^S 8 ?* d ‘® port a wanted murderer in riL ■“"i of his car through the numerous blocks he will find on the route bacL to Palermo. Should he refuse he will have an unaccountable and fatal accident. The situation turns out to be the work of the Mafia, and in the bewildering succession of events which follow they manage to kidnap the American girl and to hold her hostage until they can carry out, through Brig’s unwilling agency, some ambitious smuggling plans, in which he is dispatched first to Malta and then to Naples. As the police have also got on to his Involvement with the escaped murderer in Palermo the wretched Brig is harried by first one and then the other, always with the knowledge that his girl friend could at any moment be murdered. The progress of this complicated story is clarified by means of telling it through the mouths of the principle characters —an ingenious literary ploy, for it also explains what makes them all tick. The author exercises admirable restraint in limiting the love interest to the barest essentials, and omitting the amatory details which so many thriller writers regard as obligatory to include. Altogether a well-worked-out and absorbing tale—a little far-fetched at times but not more so than is necessary in a world peopled by desperados.

Knulp. By Hermann Hesse. Translated by Ralph Manheim. Jonathan Cape. 114 pp.

Hermann Hesse is undoubtedly one of the most significant writers this century, producing a large amount of work of a high quality and imagination. He resolutely explores the conflict between the real and the ideal, between involvement and isolation — a theme central to his greatest works. Frequently Hesse writes in a world which mixes realism with poetic imagination and fantasy, a world which has its roots in the spirit of the man himself. “Knulp” is a relatively short book, and is movingly translated by Ralph Manheim who also translated a version of “Rosshalde,” which was Hermann Hesse’s fourth novel. Knulp is an amiable vagabond who wanders from town to town, a man of self-imposed exile, blissful and self-absorbed. The book is divided into three tales, including the author’s own history of his relationship with Knulp, which is a particularly moving section. The finale of the book concerns Knulp’s death in a snowstorm, and his interview with God who explains that it has been the whole purpose of Knulp’s life to bring “a little nostalgia for freedom into the lives of ordinary men.” The text of this novel is deceptively simple, yet contains much that reflects on the human condition. It will interest not only readers of Hesse but all those people who enjoy a tale of great charm and beauty.

When Hitter Stole Pin* Rabbit. By Judith Kerr. Coffins. 191 pp. This is not, as couid be easily inferred from the title and the dustcover, a children’s book, though the author is noted for work in.that field. Disguised as a novel it is really a slice of autobiography, beginning in 1933, Just before the Nazis came to power. Anna, aged nine, and her brother Max were living with their parents in Berlin. Her father, a famous and prosperous journalist, was a Jew; and prudently heeding the warnings of friends he left home abruptly for Switzerland, being followed a few days later by his wife and children—just 24 hours before the passports of all four would have been impounded. Life for the next two years was interesting but hard for Anna and Max. Their father’s source of income had dried up, and his contributions to Swiss newspapers were either declined, or were carefully edited for any criticisms they contained of the Nazi regime. So the family moved again—this time to Paris, where "Papa’s” fame certainty brought him work, but little monetary reward on account of the financial depression of that time. The children struggling with a totally strange language in French schools had their own hard little row to hoe, but the story was to end happily for these victims of circumstance. At the end

of a year both children were fluent in French, and with the language hurdle surmounted they distinguished themselves in their school work. Meanwhile, their father had submitted a film script to a Hungarian producer in London who accepted it, and put the family in funds for the first time in two anxious years. They then moved to London where the author is still living. There are many delightful facets to this story, not the least being a description of the trials of poor “Mama” who, having been brought up simply to play the piano floundered badly over the mysteries of cooking, sewing, and other domestic chores, and bitterly resented her lot. “Omama,” her mother is a well-drawn portrait, while poor optimistic “Oncle Julius” Tsu- father’s old friend, who had a tra&d t 0 * eave Germany, met with ctviAtn A. nd - Th® author adapts her Erf iwe tajje of the narrator, Anna, DOTrf It and < » uiteadult novel, it is by the author. Shephenfs Pte. By Ma.. Scott Hurst and Blackett. 184 pp. The ingredients for Mary “Shepherd’s Pie” are familiar readers, and as appetising, as only sm. knows how to make them. Nobody is better-acquainted with the backblocks than this author (though she might vary the term a little more often), and she writes the story, of farming families who cluster round the small township of Turi. Turi has been singularly unlucky in attempts to attract a member of the medical profession to take on the task of looking after its collective health, which, considering the inaccessibility of the homes of some of the community is not wholly surprising. So when the news spreads that Oliver Barratt, a newly qualified doctor, is coming to the neighbourhood for a trial period of six months there is much pleasure and excitement locally. Most thrilled of all is Tony Smale, who lives with her uncle Paul and aunt Susan, and works in the local store, though she is a young woman with expectations of wealth. Tony’s fanatical devotion to the back country is so unreasoning that when the new doctor inevitably falls in love with her, and she with him, she is quite sure that he shares her dedication to the people he serves in his practice. In actual fact, though he remains on in Turi for double the length of his original assignment because of his love for Tony, he is straining at the leash to further his career in urban surroundings. The inevitable happens; the romance ends; but beside the story of Tony and Oliver there is much bright chat (an art in which Mary Scott excels) about the daily lives of local families. The whole makes a good shepherd’s pie, cooked with skill and strongly flavoured with humour.

A Glimpse of Tiger. By Herman Raucher. W. H. Allan. 222 pp. Herman Rancher's first novel “The Summer of ’42” spent several weeks on the best-seller lists and it seems likely that “A Glimpse of Tiger” will equal ita predecessor’s record. Tiger, or Janice McAlister is a young girl who has tried to break away from her conventional American middle-class background and lives with her friend Luther in his large bare flat in Manhattan. The first part of the book skims racily through some scenes in their life together as they exist by Luther’s wits. It is gay, light-hearted and tremendously funny although even from the start a low note of warning sounds occasionally. The note becomes more insistent as Tiger decides to leave Luther and he tries every way he knows to win her back. The humour continues to the end, but the tension also mounts to explode in a shocking climax, all the more effective because it is so unexpected. The last few pages when Luther’s fantasy runs parallel with the confused reality of the scene around him are extremely well done and finish this unusual novel on a haunting and memorable note. The novel is not a great or powerful work but it does well what many readers want in fiction. It gives a glimpse of Tiger—a brief insight into an appealing though troubled personality. It tells a haunting, sad love story and tells it well, in clean vivid prose with humour and with feeling, which never descends to pathos or sentimentality. "A Glimpse of Tiger” is a slight but charming story.

They Love Not Poison. By Sara Woods. Macmillan. 192 pp. Although there are two murders in this book, one by poison and the other by means of a large rock, it is hardly a “murder mystery” for there is little doubt about who did the first murder, nor why he did it, nor how. The police call, but we see little of police procedure. There are hints of witchcraft being practiced in the charming village

in a lovely part of Yorkshire, but we come upon no spells being cast, nor broomstick-derbys being held by the light of the moon. There is buried treasure, but it is eventually found offstage and we do not see it Even the love interest does not work out to anyone’s satisfaction, and the worthy young man and the beautiful girl seem destined to languish in a loneliness neither would desire nor seek. And yet the story is enjoyable to read, and after it is finished we remember the well-drawn people in it and wonder how they are faring and feel concerned about the welfare of their farm animals The book has character and is a safe Christmas present for those of sheltered life who like not violence in the raw nor the sight of certain words no matter how short they may be alphabetically.

For Fear of Little Men. By John Blackburn. Jonathan Cape. 191 pp. This novel is set around a children’s song which has a vital meaning for the inhabitants of Treflys valley in North Wales. The song itself has been inspired by a foik tale of an ancient mountain people, dedicated to evil, who were massacred by the villagers’ ancestors 3000 years ago. Thus, there ™.an intention to use an aura of noSKfaft and the occult. On the myTeriou. sl °P e ! abov ® Treflys, people of ttL vents , occur ’ a™ l of this landscagrea h a Y e a , dee P f ®ar with what at first I ?’®,l e «® nd ,s o ,ink . ed of unrelated incident!?® b®. ?,®. e "®® too fantastic in themself?®??* “ ut .? ot attempts to unite these incl? ® author the legend in a conspiracy 1 ® ??,? involves the hero and his wr 1 Regrettably, Mr Blackbum is not t» very convincing writer in his attempts to use the occult. His portrayel of the macabre and horrific fall short of their aims of creating chills in the reader. The characters and situation are all too familiar, and Mr Blackburn is unable to manipulate his plot with the imagination and style that this sort of writing demands.