HISTORY AND ROMANCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21360, 13 June 1931, Page 4

HISTORY AND ROMANCE

RECENTLY-PUBLISHED NOVELS

" Susan Spray.” By Sheila Kaye-Smlth (Cassell). ' ‘ , “ The Havens Enter the House." By Ivory Burnett (John Murray). \ "Mr Cardonnel.” By H. C. Bailey (Ward, iLock). " Great Oaks.” By Ben Ames Williams (Stanley Paul). "Whitehall.” By E. V. Trlmms (Skcffington).

"No Sign-Post Anywhere." By Elizabeth Hugh son (Hodder and Stoughton). “ Blue Salon." By Elizabeth Watt (Wright and Brown). " The Power and Glory Girl." By H. M. E. Clamp (Hurst and Blackett). “Where No Wind Comes.” By Simon Dare -'(Hutchinson). The Finest Thing." By lewis Cox (Mills and Boon). / " A Lonesome Road.” By Francis Mocatta (Herbert Jenkins)., & “ Lucretia Lombard.” By Kathleen Norris (John Murray, 3s 6d net). "Fire Seeds." By Cecil Adair (Stanley Paul, 2s 6d net). (Each Gs net, unless otherwise stated.) The full title of Miss Kaye-Smith’s newnovel is “The History of Susan Spray, the Female Preacher/- which is to a de-

gree explanatory .of its theme. It cannot, however, do justice to the capable manner in which Miss Kaye-Smith has developed the character of Susan from the v poor little girl,.-daughter of a Sussex peasant, and subject to fainting fits, to the handsome, resolute woman whose life’s ambition is achieved when, erect and proud, full of her own triumph and the triumph of the Church 1 of Jehovah-Jireh, she moved solemnly to the Scripture desk and opened the Book, the complete and masterful shepherd of her own faithful flock and, besides, wife of the wealthiest man -in the district. •Susan was born” a century ago, and her story ig told against .the background of the evil days that were in England prior to the repeal of the Corn Laws, when the roads were crowded with starving labourers and their families, and the peasant who could earn 10s a week might be considered more or lesßcomfortably;situated. Susan first discovered that she could preach the Word after the Lord revealed Himself in;a thunder-clap when she was five years old, and from mat time visions came to her, and she spoke with the in- , spiration of them, more or less at will. Whether she was ever dishonest with her-

. self, Miss Kaye-Smith leaves the reader ’ to judge; to a point at least she was sincere. She was _no vestal, though, this Susan, and: had in all three husbands, the - first an hoijest working man who died, the second a raffish gentleman with not the grace to do so, and the third a childhood friend who had become wealthy. Much is related of her domestic life, including that time which shfe' spent in a public house. All in all, “ Susan Spraiy ” is by no means the least successful of those of Sheila Kaye-Smith’s,, novels that we have read. It is valuable for its excellent picture of farming conditions a hundred years ago. Its fault is that it is overburdened with reports of,. Susan’s crude evangelical addresses, andTimmature theology. ♦'„ * ¥

j "Ivory Burnett,” the author of "The 1 Havens Enter the' House,” is evidently ope who not only knows his period—the time of Charles I, the gallant Montrose, and the Marquess of Argyll—thoroughly, but has the ability to make known to the reader living in a very different day the interplay of jealousy, and clannishness which prevailed at that time. , In Neil Campbell and Ivar, hie half-brother, he has drawn- for us two people: having 'all the attributes of reality—difficult fellows, easy-going, careless, yet proud and stem withal. The romantic tragedy which makes the story is excellently related, and the book, through its capable delineation of the love and superstitions of the age, wins a more lasting title upon our a£Ee6■tions.

The j scene shifts in ■Mr Bailey’s “Mr Cardonnel” from the Western Highlands toi England in. .Cromwellian days, and the Story is a good, eicitinj historical romance encumbered,' occasionally, by archaic speech, but with plenty of alarums and excursions. Mr Cardonnel is the dispossessed Lord Dacre, who comes from France to reconnoitre on behalf of the Royalist party, learns from his faithful servant that “the maypoles,are all burnt ahd - we be all saints now, master;” falls id love with a charming Puritan lady, is forced into.saving the life ‘of the Protector, and finds, him a weary, frightened, old man, and at last, after other adventures in England and on .the Continent, discovers prosperity and happiness. • . ■ • ) ¥ • * .¥ . iDo trees talk? , Mr Williams affirms that they do and, .further, seems to he able to understand their language. And what these centuries-old monarchs of a beautiful island off?-the, coast of Darien whispered to him., he has set down for our delectation.! There they have stood, these “Great Oaks of .the! island, some in Clumps, tall, spreading, and .majestic, others solitary,. gnarled, and deformed, while generations of islanders lived their allotted span and passed- away. Prom the time of the coming o,f the first missionary these trees have told Mr’Williams-all they have seen. Their story is of pirates, despoilers, chevaliers, planters, and builders, each in turn reaping the fruits of his predecessor’s sowing. •' This historical romance is elaborated 'by Mr ' Williams with delicacy and precision—a charming, loosely-connected tale well told. As interludes the author interpolates word pictures of the island as he has seen it today. . '’ ■ - '• .’ ' '- ■

Lovers of historical romance will find much to delight them also in “ Whitehall,” a’swashbuckling, happy story of the'days of- Charles 11. The, hero, is-a . dashing pirate known as the “ Falcon,” who is a source of constant annoyance to the French, and also to a circle of conspirators who are in fawning attendance upon King Charles. The wife of the “ Falcon ” is also a notable character, who does not hesitate to sacrifice herself to save her husband, .from an ignominious death. King “’Charles II is depicted as a selfwilled, pleasure-seeking despot, yet in the end his almost forgotten self-respect comes 'to: the surface, and the future happiness of 1 the “ Falcon ” and his bride is thus assured. " - '

The author of “ No Signpost Anywhere ” writes very gracefully of.young love, and ■we are touched by her charming description of the almost idyllic flowering of the romance between an Oxford undergraduate and a girl living in a little Cornish village. But our knowledge, which the lovers lack, that they are bound by a blood-relationship that’- makes marriage impossible spoils for us the savour of the romance, aind the end comes, as it must, in bitterness and sorrow.

“ Bine Salon ” also is a 1 love story, and this time pleasantly concluded. The heroine, June, ie a charming girl such- as one meets seldom but likes to read about, and the young artist- she encounters on the Scottish moors seems a decent fellow until he disappears. June goes to London to assist Pamela Spencer in her original salon, at which- dogs are the articles of barter. Eventually her artist returns, a slight matter of divorce having been attended to, and after further minor difficulties, the lovers decide that marriage is not a cure for love, but the only way of safeguarding it.

In “ The Power and Glory Girl,” true love is again the theme, and Miss Clamp handles it attractively. Stora Mountless is the girl, wealthy, much admired, who marries the wrong man first, but in the end, thanks to the assistance of Florry Ann, the flower girl who also loves him, recognises her parson-suitor, Garry Gilmour, as her destiny. Florry Ann dies happy to know that the man she loves and the gifl she admires are together. This is a disappointing tale after Miss Clamp’s jolly “Venus, Ltd.”

Simon Dare’s “ Where No Wind Come_s ” is quite pleasing, but also disappointing after her very capable “Jagged Edge.” Imogen and June are sisters, and equal owners of their family’s old estate, “ Green Paddocks.” Imogen is obsessed with a sense of property, and both sisters are in love with Adam Trent, the steward. When the depression makes “ Green Paddocks” too expensive to keep up, Imogen eaves it by marrying a wealthy man, leaving Adam and June to be happy together.

To .Lewis Cox’s “ The Finest Thiim the word agreeable may be given. The ■tory is of the difficulties that * girl

whose parents are unsympathetic may experience if she isvthrown into the company of extravagant, luxury-loving, amoral people. It takes Pamela some, time, during which she is pursued by a motley collection of roues, to realise that John, the stalwart young solicitor, is" her mam .-The tale is entertaining, the characterisation superficial. ¥¥ V ¥ Mrs Mocatta’s latest novel, “A Lonesome Road,” is a study'. of the curious effect that Quaker upbringing has upon the temperament of Mark Quinn, whose hereditary, qualities were, of a distinctly opposite trend. At school, in love and in marriage,' Mark is the unhappy victim of the warring elements within him, and we do not blame Mrs Mocatta for finding an easy solution of hie troubles when she causes him to die by his own hand.

Mrs Norris’s “Lucretia Lombard,".one of the most popular of her novels, is now added to Mr Murray’s list of'her works in a cheap but handsome edition, and Cecil Adair’s “ Fire Seeds," a romance written around the fortunes rfhd misfortunes of a noble' house, makes what should be a welcome reappearance in Messrs Stanley Paul's half-crown library.