NEW BOOKS

Evening Star, Issue 22252, 1 February 1936, Page 8

NEW BOOKS

BERTA RUCK’S REMINISCENCES Reminiscences by people who have moved in the thick of things never fail to attract, provided they are told in a bright and intimate way. ‘ A Story-teller Tells the Truth ’ is from the pen of Berta Ruck, who is the author of about 40 novels. Her husband (Oliver Onions) is also a writer of distinction. Berta Ruck makes no secret of her age. “ I was born in India in 1878,” she says, her father being Colonel Ruck. Thus she can recount personal experiences extending for more than half a century. She has lived most of her life in England, and has met many persons of distinction. The book contains a good deal about her early home life and her relatives, and naturally those reminiscences are not so interesting as others of a more general character. “ I never wanted to be a writer,” she says. “ I wanted to convey pictures or to tell stories.” But painting was not to be her chief medium of expression, and fate willed that she should be a writer of books. She describes art student days in the Slade school and in Paris. The writer gives pen portraits of many celebrities, including H. G. Wells,, Sir Ray Lankester, Pavlova, Augustus John, R.A., the Darwins, Arnold Bennett, Melba, Alec Waugh, Edgar Wallace, Sinclair Lewis, and many others. A particularly interesting account is given of her school days in Germany. “Oh leaving school I was sent to a family in Germany. Flat, bleak land. People—typical, I suppose, of Hohenzollern Germany. Heavily Imperialistic, they were. They made a tribal god of one man who could do no ill. En bloc they bowed down to him. They did not allow themselves to think, except on lines laid down by him. It seems an essential to some Germans that they should have a man with a moustache, whom they can blindly worship. How sick I did g-t of the idol they called ‘ Majesty ’ —the Kaiser and his moustache. And I said so. forgetting that this would he blasphemy. I don’t think I deserved the unpleasantness I got into about that.” The authoress made a trip to the United States and is amusing about the ideas of the American girl. This book is entertaining. Those who like to read about social and other events in England in the last half-century will follow the comments of the authoress with interest. Hutchinson and Co. are the publishers. Our copy is from Whitcombe and Tombs.

P. G. WODEHOUSE Mr P. G. Wodehouse is in bis merriest mood in ‘ The Luck of the Bodkins.’ It might be imagined that this versatile writer, Raving provided the public with so many books, would show signs of staleness. This is far from being the case; indeed, bis latest book is one of his best. The main theme is the love of Monty Bodkin for Gertrude Butterwick. The feeling was reciprocated, but the course of true love did not run smoothly. Though an extremely rich young man, Gertrude’s father, a successful business magnate, frankly had no time for him. A youthful indescretion put him further back. He had had a flirtation with one Sue Brown, and in his infatuation had her name tattoed on his chest. _ Gertrude saw a photograph of Monty in bathing costume,, and the truth was revealed. This trouble was ultimately smoothed out. Then Monty and Gertrude were fellow passengers on an Atlantic liner, both hound for the United States on separate errands. On the boat also was Miss Lotus Blossom, a lively Hollywood film star, and when she wrote, in indelible lipstick, certain words on the mirror in Monty’s bathroom, the fat was in the fire, for the words were: “Hi, baby!” “ Hullo, there, Sweetie ! ” Gertrude was not the kind to take such a development easily, particularly as she had observed Miss ]R ossom coming out of Monty’s cabin. From thc_ readers’ point of view it was a hilarious voyage. In addition to Monty, Gertrude, and Lotus, other Wodehouse characters, with their love affairs, help to keep- the fun going. One notable person is a steward on the ship, Albert Peasemarth, who, before the voyage was ended, began to wonder if some of the passengers had escaped from a mental institution. This is a book that would cheer the gloomiest person. Our copy of ‘ The Luck of the Bodkins’ is from the publishers (Herbert Jenkins Limited). GHOST STORIES Ghost stories were popular before the art of printing was invented. We live to-day in a material and much less superstitious age, yet the demand for tales dealing with occult manifestations is keen. Not many people today read the novels of J. S. Le Fanu, Miss 'Braddon, Mrs Gaskell, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and other' excellent writers who flourished in Victorian days, but ghost stories from their pens are still appreciated. Among others who produced this kind of literature with . success were F. Marion Crawford, Bram Stoker (the author of ‘ Dracula ’), Sir Walter Scott, and Oliver Onions, and Edith Wharton. Tales by these have been included in a book entitled ‘ Fifty Years of Ghost Stories.’ In addition to those mentioned above, the contributions include such popular - authors as E. F. Benson, Algernon Blackwood, and Walter De La Mare. Readers who are fond of thrillers will get all they want in this book of 700 pages. The publishers are Hutchinson and Co. Our copy comes from Whitcombe and Tombs Limited. • AH APPLE A DAY * Sir William Arbuthnot Lane is a distinguished British physician, who is president of the New Health, Society. He has just published a little book which is intended to be a guide to healthy living. In his foreword the author says the interest in healthy habits, especially with reference to diet, is spreading through every class in the community, and it is important that inexperience and ignorance should not be replaced by prejudice or “ faddy ” ideas. In the last half century the books published on food would from point of numbers make a library. Most of them have been written by laymen. Some are quite reasonable, but the great majority are written to buttress particular fads from knowledge that is quite inadequate. The words of one of Sir William Arbutbnot’s standing must obviously be read with respect. The book is divided into two parts. One deals with the foundations of health and the other with some common ailments. Clearly and simply written, this little work should be valuable in every household that desires its members to be strong and healthy. The publishers of ‘An Apple a Day ’ are Methuen and Co. ’UNCHARTED ’ “ Parkman for Adventure ” states the wrapper on ‘ Uncharted,’ a novel by Sydney Parkman, and it is eo. This is a story packed with adventure from cover to cover and there is not a dull paragraph in it. Bill Durrant is the very likeable hero, but he and luck hadn’t been on speaking terms for years. We join him when he is on his way to Manila for a fresh start in life after having fallen foul of Federal agents over bootlegging. He leaves a gambling den in a hurry and the boat in which he escapes is wrecked, but wrecked with him is a girl, and so the story continues through many thrilling situations to a satisfactory conclusion. Messrs Hodder and Stoughton are the publishers and our copy is from that house. In ‘ A Story-teller Tells the Truth ’ (reviewed on this page) Miss Berta Ruck, novelist, writes that she began by studying art. One of the students at Lambeth was Glyn Philpot, aged 14, who was to become a cele- ( brated painter. An examination for London County Council scholarships brought him a £lO award, and Miss Ruck received one of £2O. She studied at the Slade and in Paris, and after contributing illustrations to magazines she wrote short stories and serials. Her husband, Mr Oliver Onions, helped her to prepare one of her serials for publication as a book, and under the title ‘ His Official Fiancee ’ this was her first volume.