NEW NOVELS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18996, 18 April 1925, Page 4 (Supplement)

NEW NOVELS.

"The Carillon of Scarpa" (Putnam), by Flora Klirkmann.—This is Miss Klick- ! mann's first attempt at a novel, though I as editor of the Girls' Own Paper and | author of several books, including the popular "Flower Patch the Hills," she is no stranger to the world of print | The present book is a story of the visit ■ of a millionairo American mother and I daughter (as paying guests) to nn ini | paver ished South* European kingdom. The picture of life in the palace of Scarpa is interesting, if not convincing. The tin- ( guistic gifts possessed by most foreign , peoples always seem wonderful to the tongue-tied English, and the Royal fam- j ily of Scarpa, in addition to the usual list, , could, aurl indeed did, habitually speak j the purest American. There is something disarming in a Queen who, in response to inquiries after her health, de(tares that sho is "nicely rested, thank you." The author shows herself posiiesacd of qualities hitherto supposed to ho extinct with the Victorian era; but no doubt the editorship of the G.OP. piesotvca, as in amber, the characteristics of thai eminent, age. She is natural, then roguish, or better still arch, in her lighter moments; she is fond of disgres- j sions upon fashion and etiquette reminiscent. of the homo chat columns of her | excellent paper; arid her humour is closely i allied tr. that of the late Florence Bar- i clay. Cndeed, it is probably among . admirers of Mrs. Barclay's genius that Miss Klickmann finds her large and appreciative public. j