BARBARA IN A BOOK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22540, 3 October 1936, Page 4 (Supplement)

BARBARA IN A BOOK

POPULAR SKETCHES REPRINTED New Zealand lias produced so littlo in tho way of distinctive short stories that its people cannot afford to ignore any offered by ambitious writuis in their midst; at any moment something near tho best (a height that only Katherino Mansfield reached) may delightingly appear. But even if such achievement were rarer than it is, tha news that Mrs. Walter Scott had put into book-form thirty and more of lier " Barbara " sketches would arouse keen interest; for her skill in backblocks delineation —in tho human as[>ect she can handle so well —is outstanding. Therefore " Barbara and tho New Zealand Back-blocks " will get an eager welcome. It is an attractive reprinting of sketches written between the years 1930 and 1934, hard years for many in the rougher rural areas of this country who even in good times found life a conflict with circumstances. " Anon," as Hkraed readers have long known Mrs. Scott, has foujul in this class of literary work the best medium for her gifts. Her two novels fell far short of tho expectations raised by the frequent production of such sketches by her pen. Through the high merit of these, she had built up a reputation. To have many of them easily at hand will be a pleasure indeed . Their literary technique is good, and the play of lights'omo humour over shadows all too frequent in such an arduous life is excellently wrought. They are appealingly human. Barbara herself is alive, and so aro Paddy, and Aunt Augusta, and the unnamed husband into whom this teller of tales has contrived to put so much character. These all, and tho other folk coming and going amid the scene, are more than figures in a landscape. It is seen as part of them. This is notable achievement, worthy of as lasting an endurance as tho printed word can give. „ " Barbara and the New Zealand Backblocks," by Mary Scott. (Avery and Sons, New Plymouth.)