A TROUBLED

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 169, 13 April 1935, Page 19

A TROUBLED

Mr. Hanley’s Long Novel Commands Attention

“The Fun's,” by James Hanley (London: Chatto and Windus).

With much of the story told against a background of general strike, this latest and largest book of Mr. Hanley’s is particularly arresting. The descriptions of the massed meetings of strikers,

of the riotous acts of the crowds and the. baton charges of the police make exciting reading and bring home with force the gravity of a strike of such dimensions. However, the strike is a mere incident in Mr. Hanley’s powerful novel. The Furys are a family of the labouring class and ,the book is a grim portrayal of a strangely turbulent family life, for conflicting passions run high in the Fury household. Every character comes to life, drawn so deftly that, while the whole personality is seen with its many flaws, t'he reader is totally in sympathy with its weaknesses. Mr. Fury is. on the whole, a pleasant little man. He loses his temper frequently, but then one feels he lias much provocation. He has been at’ sea while his family is growing up, and when he forsakes the sea to work on the railway, he finds bls wife much changed ami himself a stranger to Ills married son ami daughter. Another son is at sea and Peter, the youngest and his mother’s idol, returns in disgrace after seven years at college, a sfrranger in a strange land. Always Mrs. Fury’s father sits in the kitchen, paralysed and inert, repulsive to all save Mrs. Fury, yet tended like an infant and pitied with a depth of feeling that, lends beauty to characters far from beautiful.

Mrs. Fury is a mislit in the slum in which she lives. She has driving ambitions far beyond her circumstances. These, for .seven years of struggle, are centred upon Peter. lie is to be a priest. Every member of the family is coerced’"into contributing toward his expenses. They give grudgingly and gradually become estranged before the white-hot determination. Maureen takes thef easiest way of escape and marries without consulting her mother, while Desmond marries out of the faith ai< is banished from the house. Mrs. Fury battles on stubbornly in the face of united disapproval and is struck down when the news comes that Peter has failed. Peter has done worse than fail, he has been expelled. Mrs. Fury'.? cup is a very bitter one. The strike comes and finds her hopelessly in debt for the boy’s fees, with Peter and his father out of work. The struggle appears to be a losing one. yet she is able to resist hard times with indomitable courage, only to Ik? broken by Peter, who once again of his weakness deals his mother a staggering blow. This is a great and human story and finite unexpectedly leaves one feeling that many misfortunes have brought the man and wife closer together. No one regrets Peter’s going and perhaps Mr. Fury will attain his heart’s desire and find peace in his home.

Mr. Bernard Shaw has presented the letters he received from Miss Ellen Terry to the British Museum. They were formally "received” at the meeting of the museum trustees recently, but are not yet available for public inspection. The letters, many of whicn have not yet been published, are to be bound, and they are so numerous that there will be several volumes. Some of them, which refer to people still alive, may not be published for some time. Mr. Shaw and Miss Terry were friends for many years, and when some of the letters were published recently they excited much interest.