“COSSACK GIRL”

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 172, 17 April 1937, Page 7 (Supplement)

“COSSACK GIRL”

Further Excitement in the Life of Marina Yurlova

“Russia Farewell.” by Marina Yurlova (London: Michael Joseph).

This lively and unusual autobiography by the author of “Cossack Girl ” covers certain of the post-war years, and has for a background the military hospital at Vladivostok and its surroundings, and, later, Japan, where the writer, through the kindness of the American Red Cross, was sent to recover from the effects of a badlywounded arm. The former mascot of a Cossack regiment, Marina Yurlova arrives alone at the hospital, almost going under, liberally, in the seas of mud that constitute Rotten Corner. Her former life is lightly sketched in by subsequent encounters and conversations, but this writer has a special gift of focussing the reader’s attention on the happening of the moment, and one is in a continual state of wondering how she is going to meet or get out of the various situations in which she finds herself, and the adventures in which she becomes involved. An exceptionally attractive personality, gay courage, and a deep love of her country, are the outstanding characteristics of this young girl who, from the time she was a mere child, had been forced through circumstances to face alone whatever Fate might send her. Every character she describes is, for the time being, alive and important, and she conveys admirably to the reader the elusive quality of atmosphere. Particularly is this noticeable in the description of the hospital ward where the other three inmates, nerve-wracked and wounded officers, gradually cease to be friendly, and, losing their early pathetic glamour, appear to her as something hateful, though in a moment of patriotic pity she offers to marry the limbless lieutenant and to take him to Japan and devote her life to him. Her offer is not accepted, probably fortunately for everyone, including the unhappy officer.

In Japan further adventures, amusing, amorous, pathetic or dangerous, inevitably await this girl, of whom it is truly said, “excitement and adventure are her heritage.” She meets many of her own countrymen, some with titles spurious or otherwise, w’hich are used profitably to impress visiting rich Americans and English, works as a nurse and secretary, and helps, whenever possible, other Russian refugees, though “help” is perhaps rather a tame word to apply to violent actions in which her own life is sometimes endangered, and fatally disagreeable consequences seem to be escaped by a miracle. In Japan Miss Yurlova meets an old ballerina, who trains her in traditional dancing, to which she adds the Japanese conception of the art. Finding herself successful, she sails for America and ... “a new unknown. . . .” PROBLEMS OF THE TIMES “The Seven Pillars of Fire,” a symposium (London: Jenkins). This symposium is composed of essays by seven, prominent people concerned with the spiritual welfare of the present age, an age of chaos and storm in which the Victorian dogmas and precise definitions of such conceptions as right and wrong and truth have dissolved in abstractions of insufficient strength to form the foundation of fresh beliefs upon which to build again. Man has achieved a measure of mastery over nature sufficient to enable him to live in security and happiness, and yet the world to-day shows him unable to make effective use of his power. This is the problem discussed by the contributors to this book in a valuable series of essays which provide a broad view of the world’s maladies and conflicting forces, and in the course of their analyses suggest a way out of the impasse with which civilisation is faced. The essays are “The Way of Religion,” by Dr. Maude Roydon; “The Human Fact,” by Dr. L. P. Jacks; “Erewhon Come True,” by Professor A. E. Richardson; “The Riddle of Money,” by the Marquis of Tavistock; “The Arts Within This Bellicose Civilisation,” by C. R. W. Nevinson; “The Coming Reformation,” by Captain Bernard Acworth; and “Utopia While You Wait,” by Sir E. Denison Ross. MR. FORTUNE ON THE TRAIL “Black Land, White Land,” by H. C. Bailey (London: Gollancz). Any full-length story which exhibits the detective genius of that pleasant person, Mr. Reginald Fortune, is a very welcome affair, and this one, which shows Mr. Fortune’s powers of deduction and observance at their best, is particularly so. It tells of tragedy in an English countryside where the strange division of the laud into black, rich soil and white, worthless clay, had for generations resulted iu bitter feuds and intrigues for possession of tbe better land. The story begins with the discovery in a landslip by Air. Fortune of the bones of a boy who had disappeared in that locality some twelve years before. This leads to investigations which culminate in two further deaths and much vigorous action before the full facts are ferreted out. The final result is a triumph for Air. Fortune, but readers with a particular affection for this detective will beg the author, Air. H. C. Bailey, not to bring him as close to death as he does twice in the course of this investigation. BOOKS IN DEMAND The chief librarian of the Wellington public libraries has furnished the following list of books in demand:— GENERAL. “New Zealand from Within,’’ by D. Cowie. “Far East in Ferment,” by G. Stein. “Footnotes to the Ballet,” edited by 0. Brahms. FICTION. “Lights arc Bright,” by A. D. Whyte. “Women Also Dream,” by E. E. Alannin. “.Experiments in Crime and Other Stories,” by G. Frankam