NEW BOOKS

Evening Star, Issue 23113, 12 November 1938, Page 23

NEW BOOKS

THE LATE SIR FRANCIS BELL In response to numerous requests ’Messrs Lutterworth and Co. (Aus.) Limited have reprinted the ‘ Life and Times of Sir Francis Bell ’ in an ordinary edition. This book is from the able pen of the Hon. William Downio Stewart, and when it was first published it was received with much appreciation. Sir Francis was a learned lawyer in the fullest sense of the term, and he might have adorned the judicial bench hud he so desired. When he was a Minister of the Grown his legal acumen, his lucidity of thought, and his clear-cut and unhesitating outlook on politics made him a force in parliamentary circles. He was the antithesis of the demagogue, and for that reason he made no great stir in the arena. His own history, that of his family, and of the times he passed through arc full of interest, and these are set out in vivid phrasing by his biographer. This volume .is a valuable contribution to the list of books dealing with the history ,and development of the Dominion.

A DAVID SHARP THRILLER In ' Disputed Quarry ' (published by Herbert Jenkins). David Sharp has written a thriller that is somewhat different. Murder is not the keynote, and the two men who are killed are just nobody's worry. Mainly the pother concerns Penelope Spindleshat't, a heroine of 50, and her aunl, Mrs Gatling, aged 89. Penelope is promised a tidy fortune if she will hide in the country for a certain period, absolutely cut off from everyone, even newspapers. There is a reason advanced for this request, but only Penelope takes it with a grain of salt. Mrs Gatling insists on keeping Penelope company, doeS'SO, and the two step into a strange adventure. Sheridan Orford, a young man with a Curiosity so insatiable it demands a capital letter, wonders what is behind all this, and sets to work to find out; He is more intrigued when he learns that several other parties are determined to contact the hidden-away Penelope. Many odd things happen, but somehow nothing really matters very much, least of'all the reason for all the excitement.