RECENT FICTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21906, 18 March 1933, Page 4

RECENT FICTION

“ Pacific." By Robert Carsc. (Barker.) " Nobody Starves." By Catharine Brody, (Collins.)

" Saturdee.” By Norman X/indsay. (Endeavour Press; Cs net.) " The Arm of Gold." By Ralph Connor. (Bodley Head.) , “ Flawed Blades.” By P. C. Wcin. (Murray.) " Devil’s Own Luck.” By Ashley Sterne. (Jenkins.) “ Floodlight.” By Chris. Massie. (Sampson Low.) " Man Proposes.” By Doran Hill. (Sampson Low.) i " The Water Witch." By Russell Thorndike. (Thornton Buttcrworth.) "The Murder of Steven- Hester.’’ By Harrlette Ashbrooke. (Eyre and Spottiswoode.) “ Under Northern Stars." By William MacLeod Rairie. (Hodder and Stoughton.) (Each 7s net, unless otherwise stated.)

Sea Tension Mr Robert Carse, the author of a second novel, “ Pacific,” shows nothing of haste, and no need of heroics, in developing hi? interesting story. “Pacific” has, when we look Back on- it, its full quota of bloodthirsty incidents —two eases of attempted homicide, an assault, and a murder—but the sense of anticipation with which we read is not due to foreknowledge of the nature of the violent deeds that will occur, but the awareness that something unpleasant must happen. The story may be simply- sketched. Shortly after a 4000 ton freighter leaves a South American port on a four weeks’ voyage without calls, a woman, Lucia, is discovered on board. The captain decides to take her along, as the port from which they sailed was on the' verge of a revolution, and to turn back might have led to complications. Lucia is shut in a spare cabin, and is content to take what is given her. She asks for nothing, says no word to anyone except when -she is addressed, and indeed many of the crew never set eyes on-her, yet, her presence oh shipboard causes infinitely more trouble than a return t to port would have occasioned. The probability of such tension being aroused on a voyage of ' four weeks may be questioned. It would, one ' imagines, require a larger period in which the unsettling presence of a female in a world of men might become keenly felt by practically everyone, but Mr Carse makes the story entirely convincing, at least while one is reading it. He confines 1 himself in space alone to the limits of. the ship, enabling the various characters to present themselves by glimpses back into their past histories. The method is not easy to use effectively, and it slows down Pacific” to an _ almost pedestrian gait, but Mr Carse writes well enough to avoid the intrusion of impatience into the reading of his novel.

The Slump, in America The American industrial system shows a side unfamiliar until the slump of 1929, in Catherne Brody’s “Nobody Starves.” Her theme might be broadly stated as unemployment, which provides material, Mr Sinclair Lewis hag said, for more terrible tragedies than war, tragic love,, or any of the stock situations in classic literature. The protagonists, Molly a ])d Bill, are doubtless typical members of the skilled labouring classes. Bill goes to Detroit attracted by the high wages, Molly follows, and they marry. At first their.married life has an element of minor, luxury, but then, with -the slump, factories close down. Thousands, if not millions, of workers are thrown out of work* without a cent -in their names, with no prospect of allowances to tide them over. The mental effect of this sudden crisis in the lives of people bred carelessly on a tradition that to-morrow will never come, and prosperity must survive, i a skilfully described by this author. She knows her types, she has. evidently studied their problems. A great part' of the novel is taken up with the discussion of the fallacies, as she sees them, of the minimumwage policy and mass production. It is unfortunate, for the understanding of the case which Miss Brody presents, that it m mainly revealed in the dialogue, and English .readers may find this rather less than strikingly illuminating at times. “Nobody Starves’’ is not a happy novel, but, as an obviously sincere and informed picture .of the industrial; depression in the United, States cities it possesses definite interest as a case history.

Norman Lindsay Sketches Norman" Lindsay gave ns an indication of his quality in writing of youth in the portrait of Jerfy, which appeared in a novel published "in England. In a new, novel, 'or series of sketches, ; the first book to be sent out with the imprimatur of the Endeavour Press, Mr Lindsay has devoted more than 250 pages to describing the immature adventurjngs and vernacular conversations of the young male (with, of course, an occasional female in the form of awe-inspiring mother or blush-provoking sweetheart, in the background). Mr Lindsay, as we have learnt from previous acquaintance with his work, can draw pictures with words as well as with pen or needle. ’ This paragraph: from the early pages of "Saturdee" will indicate how realistically he does it: “. . . another boy was dribbling up the flat, idling and sidling and looking at ants and cows and clouds and old Bandy Tregonning’s woodcart and Jimmy Ah Wah, the vegetable Chow; squandering glances anywhere because the wealth of the whole long day was in his pocket.- He was of the same age as Peter, which is to say that he dawdled between the years of 10 and 11; an indeterminate slab ,of time in which you sometimes stay for years and years, never getting- out of knickerbockers into trousers and damned to turped-down collars for ever.” The doings of Peter and his young cronies and enemies in Red Heap are often crude, as the doings of boys anywhere frequently are, and their humour is of the slapstick variety, but Mr Lindsay, surrounded but not overcome by his amiable young hooligans, preserves the manner of his narration of their saga on a whimsical level. The novel which so satisfactorily introduces Australian and New Zealand readers to the Endeavour Press is of a pleasant format.

Ralph Connor's New Work ; Le Bras D’Or is a Canadian inlet where lives a little sturdy community of Scottish descent. Their minister is Hector MacGregor, a young man of a robust faith and .fine physique. To this quiet spot comes a party of Americans —sophisticated men and women from New York, whose visit to the fishing grounds has been delayed by a misadventure. Hector MacGregor is'in need of money at the time they arrive, for the purpose of paying for a costly operation to save his brother’s life. _ A miserly parishioner has refused him aid, and he is l willing to accept the advice of his worldly acquaintances, and invests in a speculative adventure in order to obtain what he, needs. The complications which ensue (from this first speculation by the minister ate only one of the effects which the visit of the New Yorkers has on the life of the settlement, but ,when they leave le Bras D’Or they realise that the influence which these good Scottish folk has had on them is the stronger. There are two love stories running through Mr Connor’s agreeable new novel. It comes from Whitcombe and Tombs. Major Wren Again

Major Wren regards many of the men lie draws in "Flawed Blades” (from Whitcombe and Tombs) as the spiritless creatures of Wilfred Gibson’s verse:— The Sword Outwears the Sheath—

So end the God-loved lucky lives,

The tragedy is when, the flawed blade snaps, And yet- the Sheath survives.

They are all Foreign Legion types, and they all have a story which stretches back beyond the day when they joined “ the Cemetery of the Living,” from a number of reasons which, it is shown from the stories in this book, have something in common, “Flawed Blades” is a book which would enable a reader, coming fresh to Major Wren’s work, to understand the hold that his Foreign Legion tales have upon the public.

Ashley Sterne’s Novel Readers of certain English magazines will be more than familiar with the name of Ashley Sterne, whose short humorous stories have long been popular in Home periodicals. They and others, therefore, will welcome what is apparently this clever writer’s first novel, which he has named “Devil’s Own Luck.” It is an engaging story of a young man who -wins the Timbucktu lottery and becomes the possessor of £200,000, which his fiancee says must be used for the greatest benefit to others. His problems and adventures during the time he : is occupied in

distributing the money arc well set out in a racy style, with a laugh, if not m every line, at least in every paragraph.

Mr Massie's “ Floodlight ” It would perhaps be unfair to say that the average reader may be more intrigued with the personality of the author of “ Floodlight ” (from Whitcombe and Tombs) than with the novel itself. Chris, Massie is at least as interesting a character as any in his new novel. His usual place of residence is a London workhouse, his earnings from his pen disappear into' the pockets of the needy whom he meets there and elsewhere in the slum quarters. It is stated that *’ Floodlight ” was written so that he might educate a girl of 11 years, but, the novel is not a skimped or hurried piece of work. The problem is that of race, and Mr Massie raises the questions of religious cleavage, and the colour bar, selecting as the characters to illustrate his theses a little Jewess: a negro boy, and an Irish youth, all of Camden Town.

Changing Values “Man Proposes” (from Whitcombe and Tombs) is the story of how Peter Drave, intoxicated with the wine of commercial success, fails to see any attraction in Susan'Garland which will compare with the flambouyant charms of Aline Porter. After Peter has married Aline a change comes in his material fortunes which, ,while losing for him a worthless wife, serves to awaken a dormant appreciation of values. The resolution of his difficulties in the orthodox fashion is obvious so early in the book that the temptation offered to “skip” a few pages is barely resistible. Dame Sybil's Brother

Lovers of the macabre will welcome the latest • effort of. Mr Russell Thorndike, brother of the famous Dame Sybil, in “ The Water Witch.” James Telfer, a wealthy shipowner, appears almost, commonplace until we find that his study is the sanctuary of an evil spirit which possesses some cruel hold over him. Then, as he attempts a murder, the mystery deepens and the veil is still unlifted when the scene changes to Spain, where underhand work in. the shipping of a cargo of figs is suspected. Once more in England, the sinister figure of Mad Med Tronk appears, overshadowing all ' Telfer’s actions. Grim and foreboding, she is a creation both bizarre and intriguing. Like the figure of death she haunts Telfer, claiming that he has committed q, wrong which she alone _ can avenge. Tense moments on the riverside punctuate her quest, the reason for which, though fully explained later, will baffle most readers. Mr Thorndike’s book is. to be commended to those who like a large measure of improbability infused into their fiction. A Millionaire’s Death

“ Spike ” Tracy is one of these drawling, languid (but terribly athletic.) young men ;who conceal beneath a nonchalant exterior nerve' and brains with which the entire Police Force of this country or that cannot compete. Often such young men are “ modern Robin Hoods,” as the labels on their chronicles put it, but “ Spike ” is on the side of the angels—that is to say, of the police of Nassau County. How; they ever tolerated his sentenious and insulting monologues, and constant interference into the investigation of Steven Kester’s death, it is difficult to understand, Of course “Spike ” solves the of the millionaire’s end, and clears his niece and her secretly affianced from suspicion. Miss Ashbrook handles a. mystery story with the greatest, ingenuity, but for us "the pleasure of it is spoiled by the inanities of her amateur detective.

The Northland Among the host of writers of stories of the “great outdoors,” William M'Leod Raine takes a prominent place. In his latest novel, “ Under Northern Stars,” the hero is Webb Barnett, who has been driven from his Texas home under suspicion of being a robber, and “killer.” Into the white northland the fugitive Is harried, going on and on because he will not let himself be beaten. There he meets Molly Prescott, the handsome young sheriff, Steve Walsh, and other typical characters, and there he faces death on many occasions, only to win through and prove himself worthy of the love of the girl and the respect of his fellow men. V. V. L.