AFTER TWENTY YEARS

Northern Advocate, 21 December 1932, Page 4

AFTER TWENTY YEARS

MISS MANDER RETURNS. HER WORK ABROAD. PRESENT LITERARY TRENDS'. After a 20 years’ absence from New Zealand, "‘Miss Jane Marnier, the novelist, has returned to see the countryside with new eyes. “It is a. beautiful country—one of the most ph-tufesqUe in the world,’’ she said this morning, “but 1, like,other New Zealanders, did not appreciate its beauty until I saw the rest of the world.

“ England and France are wonderfully beautiful,” she continued, “but f.heir charm is of the postcard variety. Everything is just so, and New Zealanders visiting them, long for a piece of iuggedness—some of the Dominion’s wild beauty. If England had our hills, the people would go crazy about them. If they had the Tangihua Ranges in Sussex or Surrey, they would be considered one of the most celebrated beauty spots in England, and would be spoiled by the tourists. ’ ’

Miss Mander said that the view of the Whangarei Harbour 'and Heads from Maumi was as beautiful as anything she had seen anywhere else. The novelist was astounded at the growth of Whangarei since she was last here. The setting of the town -was wonderful, and she compared it to that of Broadway (Worcestershire), considered to bo the most beautiful village In'-England, but no more beautiful than Whangarei. The only thing Whangarei lacked was the old buildings, and the sense of history behind it, hut it had its own beauty—that of freshness.

Twenty years ago, ■Miss Hander left New Zealand to visit England for three months. It was there that she learned of a journalistic course of study provided at the Columbia University, in New York. It was the only journalistic course connected with an Englishspeaking University,, and she decided to study there. She spent two and a half years at the University,- and then the War broke out. At that time she was in France, but returned to America, and went into the Preparedness Pay Committee, which worked up propaganda to bring America into the War. It was difficult work, she said,' because the United States population was so cosmopolitan.

After the United States went into the War, Miss Mander joined the Ked Cross, and worked for the chief office in New York. She continued there until, after the War, and lived in New York imtil" 1922. In that year she returned to : London, to continue her literary work, with which she had been proceeding during the whole of her stay in America. She wrote four books Avhile in the United States, and did her Ulst two in England.- ■ ' Alias Mander touched on the presentday trend in literary tastes, and‘said [there was an immense variety in the ' amount of novels now being published. That was especially noticeable in England, where, during the past ten years, the reading public had become much more interested in foreign literature. Many foreign novels were being translated and they were getting good readings. Ten years ago, there was very little of that, but the change showed that the English'people were becoming less insular, .The United States was the first to take up that interest, because its people were sprung from i almost all the European races. The long novel was haying an especially interesting vogue at the present time, following on the long run of War books. Detective thrillers had had a ' long run, and wore still very popular, ( but were not paying as well as they did. Every sort of book, as long as it was well done, received a good run, and there were big sales for books which were essentially un-English. “There is now more scope for Empire writers/’ said Miss Mander. “This was stimulated by the War and the Wembley Exhibition, while the immense amount of campaigning which has been done iii England for Empire goods has had a big effect on literature. The time is now ripe for some New Zealand genius.’/ Miss Mander, who has. been staying in Whangarei for some days,' returned : to Auckland today.