BRUCE MARSHALL’S FINE NOVEL

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 242, 9 July 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

BRUCE MARSHALL’S FINE NOVEL

“Luckypenny,” by Bruce Marshall

(London: Gollancz). It is in no sense exaggeration to say that this is an outstanding novel. Apart from the fact that there is a good story running through the pages, without, a loss of interest from first to last, there is a fine ability displayed in character drawing. -All the characters live. Mr. Bruce Marshall paints them true to life. It is modern in every sense. The story is round the life, after the war, of a clerk, who- left his leg in France during the Great War. and had dropped into settled life surrounded by a family living rather meanly, for the income was small. The hero is a fine, manly, character. The spirit of the man flares up under some provocation ; he gets -himself into a difficulty, and then he rises out of his life of dull routine.

He is an efficient man in a firm which thrives on supplying arms to nations. Being able to speak some foreign languages, he goes on a debt-collecting trip to Italy. He has adventures grave and gay. His two children are essentially modern. They have the well-known opinion that parents are definitely inferior beings, but, on the whole, have their uses. They, too, go through some exlieriences which tend to show their quality. That youthful veneer of superiority is, with them, as with most healthy children, easily removed. Ultimately, Lucky penny drifts over to Spain and gets mixed up with the present war. There his adventures are most interesting. It is clever work on the author’s part to have a cripple from the last war-experiencing-once more high adventure, and standing up to it. The spirit of the man is just what one might expect from a good soldier of the Great War. The story is a strong one in every way, the humour is not forced, but is plentiful and, at times, broad. The whole is a fine tale of post-war life, with the hero a splendid-ly-drawn character. It would not be .surprising, to hear that this becomes a best-seller. It deserves that fate.