Picked from the fiction shelves

Press, 29 April 1978, Page 17

Picked from the fiction shelves

Sweetheart, Sweetheart. By Bernard Taylor. Souvenir Press. 335 pp. $9.75.

This is the author’s second published book and he appears to be stuck, captured by a particular theme. His previous book, ‘'The Godsend,” concerned a golden-haired little girl who destroyed a family to achieve her Satanic ends. In this second book we are again in the land of spirits and their malevolence brutally cuts down all those except the one person the spirits claim as the object of their search.

The author creates his atmopshere in the classical setting of old buildings reeking of a violent past, and rotting vegetation in gardens that hardly permit the sun to peek through. He builds up to climaxes that gallop along with sudden discoveries of horror and unexpected twists or explanations. For those who believe we are surrounded by shades of dead people who will not face the fact that the world is no longer theirs, this book will be completely realistic, Others who cannot accept this premise will view it as a Gothic exercise, successful in its own way, but one hopes the author will move 0:1 to a world that we can all see with our eyes open. — RALF UNGER.

Thule. By Marjorie Law. Nelson. 242 pp. $9.95. A novel based on life in a close-knit country township, where evervone’s jojs and sorrows are shared, is

immediately appealing. Marjorie Law is a well-known Australian author whose inspiration for “Thule” came fror time spent in a country district during World War IL and it is in this period that she has set her novel. It tells of Steve and her brother, Van,, who leave Melbourne to settle in the country township of Kurrajong. They buy a derelict farm called “Thule” and settle down to a life of apparent self-sufficiency. The author has a talent for vivid description, particularly of the beautiful countryside. Expatriate Australians will especially enjoy “Thule.” — MARGARET BUTLER.

In the National Interest. By Marvin Kalb and Ted Koppel. Bodley Head. 371 pp. $10.60.

Political intrigue, as a United States Secretary of State runs a diplomatic shuttle among warring factions in the Middle East, is at the heart of this taut, well written novel. A top television news reporter, Darius Kane, is out to discover all he can about the negotiations, secret and otherwise. He finally discovers more than his network masters will handle. The characters take a back seat to the action. The attitudes of both Kane and the Secretary of State are so uncompromising that one wonders if the dust-jacket tribute by Henry Kissinger (“Unscrupulous diplomat — virtuous journalist — a great work of fiction.”) was not written with intentional ambiguity. — A. J. PETRE.

The Rich are Different. By Susan Howatch. Hamish Hamilton. 704 pp. $11.15. Susan Howatch has written “The Rich are Different” with the same attention to detail she displayed in her earlier novels “Perimarric” and “Cashelmara.” A firm of investment brokers in New York becomes involved in the business and private life of an intelligent, ambitious young woman x on the other side of the Atlantic. The tale begins in the glittering twenties, and moves through the depressing thirties to the sobering forties. Provided the reader is strong enough to hold what is a very large novel, this tale will hold interest in return — SHIRLEY McEWAN.

The Visit. By Amy Whiting. Nelson. $8.95.

“The Visit,” the first novel by an Australian, Amy Whiting, deals with a group of intellectuals in a small Australian country town who try to forget their personal problems at weekly play-reading sessions. This forms the steadying backdrop to the surprising goings on in the town. Excitement mounts when it is discovered that a man, whose love of poetry is now famous, was once inspired, years before, by a local girl as he walked beside the calm river flowing through the town centre. Research into the poet's time there, and speculation about the identity of the lady, ruffle more than a few local feathers. A diverting idea, which just manages to escape from being “soap opera.” — GERALDINE JAMIESON.