PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 49, 27 February 1937, Page 27

PUBLIC LIBRARIES

BOOKS OF THE WEEK

The Chief Librarian of the Wellington Public, Libraries has chosen "Level Crossing," by Phyllis Bottome, as the book of the week, 'and has furnished the following review:—

Miss Bottome carries out an unusual experiment in -the transition of a. young' Scottish girl, Deidre Conry, the daughter of Lord Conry who, is a Scottish land owner,1 to New York. Deidre is one of the two principal characters, the other being her husband, Jim Lane, an American racing ace. The extraordinary mixture of two worlds is the theme of the book, carried out through its characters. Brought, up according to the old . traditions, arid sud^nly cast into New.York society, living.with an American millionaire and his wife in a great New York mansion where everyone is. taught to worship Society, Deidre finds life . more than strange. At one stage, shortly before the birth of her child, she is kidnapped, and the grim and relentless forces of the underworld play their part, in the story; not dragged in by the'author out of her. desire for sensationalism", but /nerely to show the' effect of such a tragic happening on the characters. Jim and Deidre, though entirely different in' many respects (she the epitome of the. quiet aristocratic British life', and he the; scion of an American family), each represent the aristocracy of their own kind. Both young, both in- their different ways modern, they have complete trust in each other, and their marriage from beginning to end is a success. The stages by which it progresses are admirably treated, and one feels the keenest sympathy '■ with the characters. Deidre's problems and dangers in the strange new world to which her husband has introduced her catch the interest of'the reader and hold his sympathy. When. the. book . first appeared* in England a month or two ago, one reviewer remarked that it [ was the sort of story of which George Moore would have approved, because though mtich happened which ' originated in ' the minds and emotions of the' persons of the tale, it' was never imposed upon them. This is perhaps the secret of the book's' success; because " the "modern novel is so often composed either of character studies or of incident, and it is not often enough that the story'and the people in it are blended into an even composite whole. There are many problems that a twentieth century youth meets in the path of true love, and when problems of race and country arise it would not be surprising if confusion became worse confounded." However, the keynote of the whole story isa real faith in the ■ essential goodness and courage of the younger generation, and told in this allegorical form which Miss Bottome has . chosen, the argument can hardly fail to carry conviction. '. ■;•- NEW TITLES. ;; '• Other titles selected'from recent.accession lists are as .follows: — General.—VEgo 2," by J. E. Agate; "Mild and Bitter," by A. P.- Herbert; "Lancer at Large," by. F. Yeates Brown. -Fiction.—"The" Croquet Player, by H. G. Wells; "Fighting Angel," by P. S. Buck; "Angel Unawares," by N. Syrett. , ", ■"". :. " /