NEW FICTION

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 141, 18 June 1927, Page 21

NEW FICTION

IN LONDON SPRING LISTS

"Mademoiselle from Armentiercs," by John Rhode (London: Geoffrey Bles) w^ll be welcomed by those familiar with the cinema play of that name. It is just a plain story, written quite in the cinema manner and will be found an agreeable companion for a dull hour.

"Sheila Mary," by E. Everett Green (London, Stanley Paul) makes pleasant light reading, with the usual love interest well sustained. - Although Sheila Mary as a heroine may not appeal to the girls of to-day,, yet she has a quiet charm of h#r own/ ' Marcus, the hero, at the beginning,of the story puts his own pride and comfort first. But having been jilted for a. wealthier he finds, after several lonoly years, true happiness with Sheila Mary.

"Tommy's tfncle,'^ by C. A. Alington (London: Herbert Jenkins) is. a puzzling and ingenious story about a boy millionaire, fleeing from his guardian and uncle only to fall into the clutches of a blackmailer. Crossword puzzlers will be interested in tnis nove" showing what good use may be mads of the craze. A fleeting'glimpse, too. is afforded untravelled readers'of the amphitheatre and antiquities of Roman Prance. This is a capita] story vHh which to beguile a tedious hour.

"The Stranger from Cheyenne," by Joseph B. Ames {London: The Century Co., through Dymock's, Sydney) proves that Joseph Bushnell Ames certainly can write Western novels with a thrill in every page. He has followed up his previous success, "The Lone Hand," with yet another tale of cattle rustling, love, and villainy, and gives a swiftly-moving tale of how Buck Devlin foiled the plans of a villainous ranch manager who was denuding his employer's herds and placing the blame on Buck. Buck ia a very likeable hero, swift-thinking, daring, and his meeting with sweet Nance. Austin, .barmaid at the Golden Dollar, provides romance right in the first few pages. Involved in frame-ups as he is, doubted even by friends, Buck is hard put to ''get the goods" on Branigan the ranch-manager, but he does it, single-handed most of the lime, and when the reader has learned that all is well-with Buck, Nance, the Judge, the ranch,-and love, he will lay the book down with pleasant recollections. ... . . ...

"Leadon Hill," by Richmond Crompton (London: Hodder and Stoughton) is the latest production of the author of "David Wilding, 'J "Anne Morrison," "The Innermost Room," and others. Leadon .Hill itself might be any English village, remote enough from the city, boasting its petty class distinctions, with the emphasis on "wellbred" snobocracy. It has its social leaders and climbers; the womanly dignity of Marcia Faversham, her sweet tolerance, however, is as a cool breeze in this atmosphere of trivial teas and burning scandal.' Maidens of uncertain years and decided views about the morality of other people figure in this sim-ply-told tale of what Leadon Hill did to Helen West; Helen, who came to the Hill from Italian - lakes and colourful warmth, who was all that womanhood should be, and whose only fault, in the eyes of the village was that she came alone and lived in' a large house, earing nothing for conventions demanding that a single girl must be chaperoned. Helen's capture of the eligible bachelor of the town- is the talk and the envy of tho place, and furnishes! the substanco of this agreeable novel. -