BOOK NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 162, 10 June 1939, Page 15

BOOK NOTES

“WISDOM’S GATE.” Demin" its tlienio from tin: complieatiuns of divorce in the American nniiiner, “Wisdom’s Gate.” the latest hook I’roll i the pen of Margaret Ayer liarnos, presents an interesting psychologic;! I study, alheit expressed in an ahnndanec of entertaining small talk. The counterpart of the problem play, it sets a pretty puzzle for (ho romanticist—“ What should a wife do when she learns that her husband is true to her in spirit—but only in spirit ” The diiemma confronts Cieily l.ancnster, who has lo decide whether she can successfully manage the problems of marriage and divorce, and in a Chicago setting she finds her answer. She enters matrimony a second time—with her brother-in-law, a diplomat by profession. Her husband's former wife and her own former husband add to Ihe complications of a plot that is rich in possibilities, and the conversation piece nowhere languishes as (lie problem is resolved. “Wisdom’s Gate” is an adequate answer to the reader who seeks romance with complications.—Our copy is from Messrs 0. H. Bennett and Coy.. Ltd., Hie publishers being Jonathan Capo, Ltd., London. “THE GLADIATORS.” Set is vastly different circumstances from the volume reviewed above, ''The Gladiators” is somewhat of a monumental hook. Certainly iL is well off the beaten track, nor does it admit of flippancies or irrelevaneies, hut with dignified simplicity recounts the stirring days in Italian history marked by the Slave War. Arthur Koestler, whose

“Spanish Testament” may be remembered. makes a masterly job of bis novel, building profitably around the central theme of the degeneration of revolution into tyranny. Set in the years 73-7.1 8.C., it finds ils substance in the rebellion of a group of gladiators and underlings led by Spartucus, which was destined to turn parts of Italy into chaos, and in fascinating manner proceeds to trace the establishment of the Sun State near the rich city ol Thorium. There is a wealth of splendid detail which the writer employs to advantage; nothing is intrusive, and the whole combines to furnish a most delightful book as informative as it is intriguing.—Our eopv is from .Messrs G. H. Bennett and Coy.. Ltd., and the publishers are Jonathan Cape, Ltd, London. “DEATH PAYS A DIVIDEND.” “Death Pays a Dividend” (John Rhode).—Love seems to have obscured Inspector Jimmy Waghorn’s judgment. Tin misreads some clues in “Death Pays a Dividend” in a manner really unworthy of his talents. So Dr. Priestley, as usual, lias to propound the solution to Mr .John Rhode’s latest mystery. This concerns the death of a financier's secretary by a. fall downstairs in the night. There arc signs of a burglarious entry, hut only a rug is missing and a live-pound note is found partially burned on the scene of the crime. These are two ol

a number of puzzles which the author lias devised to keep the render on tenterhooks until Dr. Priestley slips tlie pieces of the jig-saw into place. So all ends well and the inspector gets a bride.

AX EXIGM A. “Death In the I louse” (Anthony Berkeley).—T’lio sleuth in Mr Berkeley's new hook is Bonl Artlrur Eiiiton. :incl lie frills in love with—no loss a person than the Premier's daughter. "Death in the House” refers not to one of tin’s clever author's village mysteries hut to a plot to terrorise Parliament hy murder in the House of Commons itself. The proposers ol an unpopular Bill affecting India die while actually addressing the House. How? That is the enigma in a hook so skilfully inventive that we must forgive the author for a fantastic solution that impugns the skill of Scotland Yard.

EXCITING JAPANESE

“Mi- Moto Is So Sorry” (John P. Marquaiid).—There is a love interest in Mr Marquand’s hook, hut it does not concern that delightful representative of the Japanese Secret Service, with his charmingly idiomatic conversation and his native politeness unshaken hy the tightest corner. The romance is that of two young Americans accidentally' caught up in RussoJapanese politics, in Mongolia. A cigarette-case carrying a code message passes from hand t-o hand like a game of hunt-the-slipper in which bullets are forfeits and the thrills are genuinely exciting. M EMC BPS OP THE GRAXI) DUKE CYRIL. “Mv Life in Russia’s Service —Then and Now” (hv H.I.H. the Grand Duke Cvril).—The Grand Duke Cyril, who died last October, was claimant to the Russian throne, as the nearest surviving relative ol Nicholas 11. I his volume contains his memoirs from his birth' in .ISO 7 until the outbreak of the Revolution and his flight Ironi Russia to Finland and France in 1917: final chapters arc contributed by his son, the present claimant, the Grand Duke Vladimir, while the late Grand Duke's “linnori.nl'’ manifestos arc also included. TlicJfe. perhaps the most interesting part of the hook, proclaim his intention to govern a reunited Russia as a liberal _ autocrat basing himself on a foundation of soviets, regional and national; Parliamentary democracy and Fascism alike lie rejects as alien to Russia. The Grand Duke describes at length his service in -the Imperial Xav.v, including his lucky escape from the Pctropuvlovsk when she was sunk hy a .Japanese mine oil Port Arthur,. Writing of the Dogger Rank incident, at which he was not present, he insists that “there little doubt that there were a number of suspicious vessels resembling destroyers, and carrying no lights, among the trawlers. For the rest, the outstanding incident in his love-match in 1905 with his cousin, the Grand Duchess of llcssc, which lining disapproved hv the C/.ar, led to their spending some years in exile. At the time of the Revolution the Grand Duke commanded the Naval Guards in Petrogra.il. and led them to the Duma to support the new Provisional Government. ,un act of submission win,-ill brought him no reward.