NOVEL WITH POOR TITLE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21716, 3 February 1934, Page 8 (Supplement)

NOVEL WITH POOR TITLE

The unfortunate title of " Papa and Mama " will possibly act as a deterrent to many who, were it not for such an appellation,' might bo more likely to read Miss Mary Brearley's latest novel. The story is a very fine one, commencing in the early seventies and dealing with the life of an immensely wealthy Yorkshire family. The Victorian strictness and isolation in which the family of four children were reared aid the many insincerities and h.vpocrisies cloaked under convention w.'iieh obtained in that period are starkly revealed in a story which is both tragic and profound. Bereft of their father and mother, three of tho' children are left to run the huge homo, but the influence of their dead parents remains firmly imbedded, and their bewildered efforts to apply it to a con-stantly-changing world is told with a fine pathos and deep sympathy. It is a fine story of a bygone age and. under a more attractive title, would attract considerable notice. " Papa and Mama," by Mary Brearley. (Methuen.)