THE BOOKMAN

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 130, 29 November 1919, Page 14

THE BOOKMAN

A PARCEL OF NOVELS.

"A Life at Stake." By Marcel Berger. Translated by Fitzwater AVray. New York and London : G. P. Putnam's Sons. There Is fine but strong writing in this war novel. It tells of a young artist, already twice wounded and one! arm maimed, who is compelled to go back on service again, and out of his turn. The resentment rankles deeply in his heart, and he is made more bitter still by the tyranny to which he is subject as a* dock labourer at St. Pol. He becomes entangled in a love.affair, although he is already happily married. There is naturally some difficulty iv defending his action ; but at St. Pol he appears to have lost hope of the war ever ending, of freedom from the hard service to which he is condemned. The novel is remarkable for the realistic . insight, it affords into often unnecessary hardness of the conscript's lot, and the terrible strain the war put upon all men engaged in it— a fact that the stay-at-homes *an never adequately appreciate. The sprrit of the French language has been admirably preserved by the translation.

"Against the Grain." By Mrs. Daw-son-Scott. London : William Heinemann.

Manly strength is the ideal of Harry King, son of a railway clerk in the Midlands. Want of paternal tact, sympathy, and common-sense is the character of his father. Harry is strong, and nomadic in his tastes.. The openair for him every time, in preference to shop or office. Properly managed, he is a good lad, with the makings of a fine man, and a good engineer—-his profession. The novel has an interest for New Zealand readers in that Harry King comes to this country as engineer of a big tunnel contract, and he meets with a love adventure in Christchurch which showed him-to be as morally weak as he is physically strong. He becomes entangled in an affair with a little nurse, who is certainly ovar-free and not too particular. Together they live for a~ blissful but certainly illicit fortnight. TVs and some other incidents are, quite unpleasant. They mar some otherwise exquisite work in describing the King family and .how it lives, passages of deep human interest. Mrs. ■ DawsonScott, it may be remembered, is the writer of "Wastrels"^- powerful work. "Against the Grain" opens well—tho reader settles down to thoroughly enjoy, as he gathers from the opening, a novel of quality. It opens well; the finish is disappointing.

"The Adventures of Signor M'Glusky." By A. Gr. Hales. London: Hod'der and Stoughton.

•■'Mr. A. G. Hales has had an adventurous life, and he has also the faculty for interesting his readers.in the spirit that urged him to go abroad and see men and things. This volume is one of a series, known as the M'Glusky books; It is based upon the adventures of "Soldiers Three," members of a Highland regiment on service in Italy. The sergeant is a Highlander, and his companions are English as to one, Irish as to the other. They are a cheerful and lovable trinity. There is a beautiful woman in the story, who .is in the pay of both Austria and Italy as a spy. She has a career comparable to the sw.ift gorgeousness of the sky-rocket, and her end is as sudden as a spent firework.- There is. any amount of humour in Signor M'Glusky, and some thrilling descriptions of fighting and adr venture in Italy. Mr. Hales is a past master in descriptive work of this kind, and "Signor M'Glusky" is a fine example of his craftsmanship. .