"THREE FEVERS"

Evening Post, Issue 2, 2 July 1932, Page 19

"THREE FEVERS"

. .''Three Fevers," by Leo Walmsley, has been hailed t>y critics as one of the most outstanding of repent publications Says one:—"This taia of north-east coast fisher's has a Tare honesty and simplicity.- It is difficult to think of it as.fiction, since it is the bones of life asdt is being lived at this moment, by men of this: gi lm, fascinating coast The dangers faced by theso'men, not only in pursuit of their own primitive 'calling, but in the lifeboat service, aro actual dangers; as commonplace : of .their-•■-lives, as their swift humour, their hardihood,- their stubbornness, j their : fierce,'possessive grasp of what |they hold. I do not think it would have been possible to write this book with greater justice to the massive simplicity of its themo.

"Though nothing of the .author is al lowed to intrude on tho narrative, he has lived and endured' with these men, and he. writes-with sure authority The simplicity of the writing tightens the story to a; tenseness which reaches its climax—and release—in tho I storm which-closes the book. The account of this storm, a. sudden south-east gale, which' traps the fishers in their open boats, by night on a lee shoro, is a superb- piece. of work. "Over and abovo this,-' Three Fevers,' with its intimato and fireside pictures ashore in an ancient vilhgo whoso fouu datiohs are swept by the North Sea (the sound of which gives a burden to tho whole narrative), is one of those rare novels which offer to the reader a new experience. North-cast coast fishers^ (pure • descendants of tho old Scandinavian sea-robbers) aro a race apart. Of these people and their lives, Mr. Walmsley has made a book of permanent literary worth."

■' Sir Arthur Quiller Conclv says — " 'Three Fevers', gave me asurprise and a shock of delight. Its story, in itself simple, is so simply and classically told that maybe only those acquainted ■with inshore fishermen will- recognise its accuracy...of detail, and only those who understand reticence m art will admire the.anafomy of this piece of work as it should bo, admired. .;,Talk about 'masterpi.ec( s' comes easily to the pen these days. 1 can only say .that I laid down - this book with respectful wonder, as a bright thing sired by 'Ait out of Knowledge '"