PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 128, 1 June 1935, Page 24

PUBLIC LIBRARIES

BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

The Chief Librarian of the Wellington Public Libraries has chosen "Come And Get It," by Edna Ferber, as the book of the week, and has furnished the following review:—

It has been said of Miss Ferber that she cannot become enthusiastic over the leisured wealthy folk, neither is she moved to compassion for the poor. People who are workers fill her pages. "They who say that work-hardens one," she remarks, "or wearies or dulls, have chosen the wrong occupation, or have never really tasted the delights of it. It's the finest freshener in the world."

Her latest book is the story of three generations of Glasgows, and the period covers the years 1907 to the present day, a period teeming with material for a dozen novels—the White House and its two Roosevelt Presidents, the Great War, the boom" period that followed, the Wall Street crash, and many such incidents which have made history. And although the book runs to 500 odd pages the interest never flags.

From the outset it is Barney Glasgow (Gusto to his friends) who dominates the story. At 53, having worked his way up from chore-boy m a lumber camp to lumber-king of "Wisconsin, and living in palatial surroundings in Butte des Morts, it would seem that he has every reason to be content with life. But Gusto is in secret revolt against the women -of his household. A few days before the wedding of his daughter, Evelyn, and much against the iron will of his unattractive wife, who has been married years before for her money (and knows it), he plans a trip to Iron nidge,' ostensibly on business, but actually for a shooting expedition. On arrival he finds that his private camp has been burnt through the negligence of a cook-boy, and he decides to stay at an hotel for the day. It is here that he meets the exquisite but uneducated waitress, Lotta, 18----year-old granddaughter of Swan Bostrom, companion of his logging days, and falls madly in love with her, an emotion which has been denied him with his frigid wife. This ruthless young lady changes the whole course of Gusto's life, and the once bold and honest man becomes furtive and scheming. His infatuation proves his undoing, and, after a violent quarrel with his son, who has also fallen in love with the beautiful Lotta and been accepted, he decides to alter his will in favour of his daughter. Before he can arrange this, however, the whole family (with the exception of his son, Bernie, who has not accompanied them) is wiped out in a yachting disaster. The responsibilities of the Glasgow Pulp and Paper Mills' vast interests than fall on Bernie's shoulders, and the remainder of the story is concerned with Lotta's marriage to him, with her frantic efforts to climb the social ladder against great odds, of her success as a hostess in England and on the Continent—all gently satirical. To quote Rachel Penny, once such a power in Lotta's sphere,—"Well, here you are, you've spent your life getting into society and just when you reached the top, why, there's no such thing. It's like those rope ladders the East Indian magicians throw up for tourists. You know.' Somebody climbs up it—or you think they do— and then next thing you know the rope and the climber disappear in thin air. Very baffling. Money, too. It's as much as your reputation's worth to say you have any. Absolutely unfashionable to be rich. By next winter I take my oath on it it'll be considered disgraceful to be a millionaire, like having an uncle who was hanged. So you'd better get rid of your money, my dear —or say you have. .What is it—paper mills, or something sturdy like that? Too, too bad." ■ • Bard and Dina, the twins, have been brought up as Europeans, but when the Wall Street crash almost ruins their father, they are taken home to America by a reluctant and rebellious mother, and there begins a new and to them exciting life. There are many vivid descriptions of life in the logging camps of America, of the winters there, of the paper and pulp mills and their workers; and the character drawing is excellent. RECENT LIBRARY ADDITIONS. Other titles selected from recent accession lists are as follows: —General: "Sunrise and Evening Star," by M. King; "The Successful Life," by C. D. Farmer; "Confucius in a Tailcoat," by M. Dekobra; "All in the Game," by N. Clark; "The Nazi. Dictatorship," by R.' Pascal; "Jipping Street," by K. Woodward; "Rome and the World Today," by H. S. Hadley; "Behind the Front Page," by W. Forrest. Fiction: "The Stars Look Down," by A. J. Cronin; "More Than Kind," by C. Seaford; "Affair at the Vere Arms," by A. R. Weeks and R. K. Weeks; "The Dark Road," by H. Pendexter; "The Five Silver Buddhas," by H. S. Keeler; "Australia Hops In," by A. Crocker; "White Buffalo," by R. A. Bennett; "Death at the Horse Show,". by V. Loder.

Those who remember "The Rector's Daughter" will welcome a new book by Flora Mayor, "The Room Opposite and Other Stories of Mystery and Imagination." Readers who like having their flesh made to creep will appreciate the suggestion running through many of the stories of supernatural agencies at work. The stories have been collected from work left unpublished by the author at the time of her death.

The. book comes with a recommendation from no less eminent a critic of ghost stories than the Provost of Eton, Dr. M. R. James, author, it will be remembered, of "Ghpst Stories of an Antiquary." He writes: "The stories in this volume, which introduce the supernatural, commend themselves to me very strongly. The setting is excellent, not least the village conversation, and the blood-curdling element, which just now appeals so much to the American public, is kept in its place, and is consequently more effective. Of the other stories, 'Christmas Night at Almira' is very poignant, and shows great power of visualising a collection of drab, yet entertaining people."