NEW NOVELS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20372, 28 September 1929, Page 8 (Supplement)

NEW NOVELS.

HAPPY ENDINGS. " Another Piirt of thn "Wood," by Dcniß Mackail (Jlodfler ami Stoughton). " Happy Eliding." by Stephen McKenna (COSHI'II). " Devil's Drum." by Lord Goroll (Murray). Bright clpariliness is not a quality that commends itself to tho literary highbrow who finds a distressing lack of tho truo artistic sense in characters possessing none of those dusty byways from the exploration of which the really great novelist of to-day emerges carrying penfuls of precious dirt to sot before his greedy customers.

Mr. Denis Mackail, judged by these standards, is not worthy of tho namo of novelist. His characters are distinguished by i» fundamental decency and pleasantness which makes them quito useless for the purposes of dissection. " Another Part of tho Wood" is, as the namo implies, a modern midsummer night's dream of young love. " Beauty" Brett and his Sylvia, Noodles and her faithful Snubs arc true Mackail types that before very long will find themselves living in Greenery Street ne::t door to Mr. and Mrs. Lan Foster. Arid who could wish tbern a happier ending than that ?

The or.lv happy ending in Stephen MeKenna's" latest book is in the title, whoso meaning grows even moro obscure as the constituent parts of his eternal triangle move gloomily through a story entirely lacking in interest either to themselves'or to tho reader. It is impossible to grow excited over tho wrongs of Mr. Justice Morchard who is apparently so tired—and we do not blame him—of his wife Lola that he almost welcomes the appearance of Biers Shotton as her cavalier. And what Jane Campion, young beautiful and rich, can seo to admire in this battered and bored philanderer only Mr. McKenna presumably knows, and he docs not tell. As a contrast to " Another Part of the Wood" one could hardly find anything better than " Ilappy Endi'ig-"

[n " Tho Devil's Drum" we arc on different ground again. Hero melodrama reigns supreme. In the sinister atmosphere of Dunsmore Castle dwells the cruel Sir Gerald Hemington, and his gentle wife .Viola, whom tho wicked baronet seldom addresses without the _ regulation muttered curse. Tho castle is situated upon a frowning coast and near by thero U what Mr. Wodehouse's heroes would describe as a very nasty bit of workin flic shape of a "circular chasm in the locky coast-line where tho wild waters on stormy nights keep up their devils' drumming until the air is loud with the sound. One particularly unpleasant evening. after Sir Gerald has been more than usually infuriated by his wile's goodness sho disappears in "circumstances which seem to leave no doubt that sho has committed suicide and murder by throwing herself and her child into tho Devil s Drum. A detective on holiday, interests himself in tho case and even hero matters work out to a happy ending at anvrate for the virtuous characters in the story. " Devil's Drum" is unworthy of its author's reputation for brilliantly constructed tales of crime and detection.