NOSTALGIA EXERCISES

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33816, 12 April 1975, Page 10

NOSTALGIA EXERCISES

A Gentleman of France. By Stanley J. Weyman. Bodley Head. 411 pp. N.Z. price $5.40.

There must be many people who remember with nostalgia hours of their youth spent deep in the pages of Anthony Hope. Rider Haggard, Stanley Weyman or Rafael Sabatini. The condescending scorn with which such novels are. usually regarded by intellectuals (visible or invisible) has no power to dim the memories of these glorious adventure stories. Bodley Head’s new series, “The Bow Street Library,” gives addicts of this genre a chance to indulge and should attract a whole new generation of readers. Already published in this series are books by George Birmingham, A, E. W. Mason, John Masefield, and J. Storer Clouston. The editor of the series, Hugh Greene, has now chosen one of the best novels by Stanley Weyman. It can be disillusioning to re-read favourites of one’s youth, but “A Gentleman of France” should produce no such feelings. It has worn well and is still extremely readable. Set in Weyman’s favourite period of sixteenth century France, it tells of an unimaginative, resourceful middle-aged soldier entrusted by Henry of Navarre with a secret and dangerous mission.

M. de Marsac tells his own story in plain unromantic prose. The confused political situation is concisely explained and the backdrops of filthy narrow streets in ancient French towns, of wayside inns, and of the war torn countryside are vividly depicted. But it is Weyman’s ability as a story-teller

which provides the real worth of the

The Sieur de Marsac rises from the nadir of his fortunes when the book begins, through midnight flights, duels political intrigue and murder, plague and battle, to security and happiness The tale moves rapidly with unexpected twists, and the reader is caught up in the sense of danger and excitement. As an exercise in nostalgia or as a new experience, “A Gentleman of France” is well worthwhile.