“ALLEN ADAIR.”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19505, 13 June 1925, Page 22

“ALLEN ADAIR.”

A STORY OF THE GUMFIELDS. MISS JANE MANDER AT HER BEST. (From Gnat Own Correspondent.) LONDON, April 18. Those who have taken an interest in the writings of tho New Zealand author, Miss Jane Mandor, will doubtless bo gratified to find that in her latest novel she has justified their hopes. in her previous works she has not been ablo to resist the temptation to introduce as the principal characters unpleasant, neurotic types of men and women, who were distinctly tedious and quite out of place in tho New Zealand sotting. But tho cleverness with which Miss Mnnder managed that setting, and tho faithfulness with which she portrayed the minor characters led one to hope that some day she would abandon her obsession and devote herself to a moro faithful representation of Now Zealand life. In ‘‘Allen Adair” (Hutchinson and Co., 7s 6d) Miss Mander has risen to a height in her art which she has never previousy reached. She has demonstrated that sho possesses tho gifts of a true artist. In the first place she has resisted all temptation to obtrude her personal bias upon the characters, Sho has taken several very ordinary people placcd_ them in a picturesque sotting—in this case, the gumfields of North Auckland—and allowed them to work out their own destiny. Tho story is dated round about 1900, but it stands tho test of time, lor tho psychological study therein has a universal truth. It is a story tho essentials of which are applicable to any place or period. Allen Adair, a young Aucklander, the only son of a lawyer, is expected to do something worthy of his family. His inclinations tend towards the open-air life. Mo fails at office work, he goes to Oxford for two years but accomplishes nothing worth speaking of. Eventually he turns his back on tho town and directs his footsteps towards tho northern peninsula. A year is spent running a cutter on tho Wairoa with mails and supplies, and then r dair settles down on tho edge of a great gamfield. Mere ho acts as storeman, supplying a kauri timber camp in tho vicinity and farmers and gum diggers from far and near. Adair succeeds in making a living. Ho makes several good friends, among these an Englishman who has apparently sought sanctuary in the gumfields. In duo course Adair revises Auckland and marries a girl who is not quite in his family’s set. There is difference in temperament in tho man and his wife. Adair loves tho country and the simple life and the very real friendships are all the extras ho asks for. His wife is merely in the country ns a compromise. She lives for tho time when she cian pet back to town. The author frankly faces (he thoughtlessness of the husband and the limited mentality of tho wife, and sho works out during six years o f their life in this lonely part of the country the inevitable trend of their mutual relationship. Both are doing their best, but there are the mild tragedies caused hy misunderstanding and diverse developirront. It is a clover piece of character study. Miss Mander paints her picture on broad canvas, and consequently is able to introduce the extenuating circumstances which save the gradual decay of affection from being too poignant. There are children, and the author is particularly skilful in her treatment of that distressing period before childbirth when a woman is an illogical, nervous creature and the man n blundering r.ss. Apart from the study there is a slight niystorv nlot which revolves about the person of the Kurdish stranger who lives in seclusion in (he gumfields. The minor charaefers are all very real. The gumfields add tho kauri forests are described by one who has an intimate knowledge of them. In short, the work is of a. high standard, and gives nromiso that Miss Janes MamDr will be still better known than sho is at present.