RECENT FICTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22368, 15 September 1934, Page 4

RECENT FICTION

“ The Free Fishers.” By John Buchan. (Hodder and Stoughton.) “ Gay Pagan.” By Hugh Talbot. (Dent.) " via Mala.” By John Knittel. (HutchinS °" She Walked Into His Parlour.” By Mayslo Grcig. (Hodder and Stoughton.) "Harness the Winds.'* By Anne Maybury. (Mills and Boon.) “ Cobweb Child." By Prudence Summerhaycs. (Hutchinson.) " When the Devil Was Well.” By W. H. Lane Crauford. (Ward, Lock.) " Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? ” By Agatha Christie. (Crime Club.) " The Unknown Enemy.” By Gret Lane. (Jenkins.) _ , . " Blood in the Mists." By J. Halpin. (Macquarie Head.) . "Guns o’ Hell.” By J. Samuel Sisco. (Wright and Brown: 4s net.) (Each Ts net. unless otherwise stated.)

" The Free Fishers ” Mr Buchan as a novelist has evolved a formula. It is more or less inevitable that the romantic writer should do so, and a book may be none the worse because it is equipped with characters whom wo come to recognise as typical, no matter what their differences in period—that is, in phrasing and garb—-and with a niise cn scene which has some common identity with the background of other Buchan books, whether their setting be Scotland, Africa, or the Turkish frontier. In “I he

Free Fishers”, it can be said, not altogether in disparagement of a picturesque and workmanlike tale of adventure, that Mr Buchan has provided his readers with the mixture as before. The characters in whom he appears to be most interested are the sea-folk of the Forth, members of a - secret order of ancient origin, which at the time the story .opens, a century ago, is engaged in assisting the State to deal with its enemies. The enemies concerned are mysterious and sinister; oi\e, a woman of great cunning, another her husband, who is thus described in true Buchanite prose:— "A long, black-avised man," said the Chief Fisher, “ wi’ a skin like a candledowp. I’ve seen him twa—three times. When he’s at home be is either hunting the hills wi’ his dowgs, or lying as fou’ as the Baltic—at least that’s what they tell me. But the feck o’ the time he’s ranging the land at cookings and horseraemgs.” *

The Free Fishers are taken south from Scotland into Norfolk on their loyal and secret occasions, and it happens, not altogether by chance, that Mr Anthony Lammas, who is not unacquainted with the order, is travelling the same road. Mr Lammas there should be no difficulty in recognising. A minister of the kirk, a professor at St. Andrew’s, of no great physical impressiveness, but with a good mind and a eye, he fulfils the requirements of a Buchan hero. So he proves himself to be, when from all points converge the forces of discipline and the myrmidons of disorder upon a wild section of English land and seascape to match wits and brawn and prove their chivalry or vileness in an epic encounter. “ The Free Fishers,” as has been suggested, is a plausible and romantic tale, over which few readers will nod. Yet one feels that Mr Buchan, while giving to it of his best, has been more successful on previous best occasions. But it is better, much better, than most books in its particular genre, and full marks must be given the author for the appreciative ability wherewith he presents time and place. The Author

John Buchan, C.H.. M.P., Lord High Commissioner to the Church of Scotland, was born at Perth, in 'Scotland, in 1875, a son of the Manse, and member of an old Border family. He was educated at Glasgow University and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he won the Stanhope historical prize and the Newdigate prize, took first class honours in history and philosophy, and was president of the Union in 1899. In 1901 he was called to the Bar, and in the same year he went to South Africa as secretary to Lord Milner, when he became a convert to Rhodes’s conception of Empire. On his return to England he engaged in the practice of law, and became partner in a publishing house. The war gave him opportunity for service, first as a correspondent to The Times, later with the Intelligence, fruit of this experience being a • history of the war and the famous “ Greenmantle ” series of novels. He is an indefatigable worker, his output of books including romances, histories, and other works, while he takes very seriously his parliamentary work as member for the Scottish Universities. His recreations are fishing, deer stalking, and mountaineering, but while the Commons is in session he confines his pastimes to week-end novel writing and gardening at his Oxford home. He is married, and. has a family of four.

'* Gay Pagan ” The period is approximately the same, the 'place another section of the sea-girt British Isles, where fishermen test their endurance and courage in brisk encounter. Mr Talbot follows his successful “Gentlemen—the Regiment! with a novel which pays tribute to the character of the Cornish smugglers a century ago, whose activities then, as now, occupy a romantic niche among the enemies of ordered government. The story takes full account of the location, the dialect, and even the famous personalities of an age when smuggling was in the category of offences anti-social only when the smugglers were brought to book. The gay pagan—the name derives from a line in a hymn by Wesley—is a headstrong girl, who forswears the attentions of a good man for the headier _ devotions of Pilaster, who rudely combines the roles of Methodist preacher and smuggler-extraordinary, and honestly believes that his two callings are equally divinely ordained. The character of Pilaster might appear incredible, if one did not know such men have been bred in Cornwall. Accepting him, the reader may be pleased to accept as well the tragic tale in which he is a dominant actor, and to savour appreciatively Mr Talbot’s romanticised presentation of the Cornish life and scene. He acknowledges the assistance of Mr Hamilton Jcnkin in this respect, and no contemporary writer could direct him more knowlcdgably. The Author A. P. Alington. who writes under the name Hugh Talbot, is a brother of Adrian Alington, the novelist, and a nephew of Dean Alington, formerly headmaster of Eton. He was educated at Marlborough and Magdalen College, and is now a preparatory schoolmaster in Oxfordshire, “ and likes it.” He is interested in painting, sculpture, and parties, and in games which are not taken seriously, his experience as captain of_ a county team for two years leaving him with a distaste for the serious sort. He is married, and has three children. “ Via Mala ” Dramatic diversity is the keynote of the grim and frequently ghastly history of the Lauretz family in their mountain homo in Switzerland, which is related by

John Knittel in “Via Mala.” It is an extraordinary, almost unbelievable Gethsemane through which this collection of human flotsam and jetsam is guided to peace and a semblance of prosperity by the unwavering faith and strength of character of the youngest daughter of the family. It is a daring tiling which the author attempts when he sets out to justify parricide, but he suits his methods to the occasion, and presents realism of the starkest kind. “Via Mala ” is a long story, running through nearly 600 pages, but the attention is never allowed to wander from the Lauretzcs' and their seemingly impossible struggle against the most appalling odds. The tale begins with sufferings and pitiable poverty in a family cowed and broken by a drunken wastrel. Driven almost to distraction, they stage a sort of communal murder, and the reader is tempted to think that the future must now hold something for each of them. It certainly does. Within three years a magistrate, who has in the meantime married the youngest daughter, stumbles on the crime. His struggle between duty and inclination, and the terrible torture to which bis indecision—a trifle painfully drawn out—subjects the family, range through the entire gamut of , human emotions and furnish a gripping climax to a story that is made up of climax and anti-climax from start to finish. The characters are all powerfully drawn, and the author has given) good measure, both in respect of quantity and reality.

The Laughing Cavalier Kent Wilburn, the hero of Maysie Grcig’s “Laughin'* Cavalier,” is seen in later life in “ She Walked Into His Parlour.” In fact, he has a grown-up son, Bob, who, although practically engaged to Ann Quinn, the friend of his childhood, suddenly loses interest in her. Of course, there is another woman, Freda Miller, and it is obvious to Kent that as she is older than Bob, she is nothing but a scheming “ gold-digger.” Freda turns out, however, to be a really charming young lady, in many ways not unlike Kent s wife, Truda, who* is dead. Nevertheless, poor Ann must be looked after, and the manner in which Kent goes about the business provides a story that most women will find entertaining. Needless to say, Kent Wilburn is the same, dashing, debonair person that he was in the previous novel.

“ Harness the Wind* ” The publishers of this book, with an optimism that is the chief characteristic of the . “ blurbs ” which decorate their works, predict for Anne Maybury practically unlimited popularity as a story teller, and it is nice to be able to endorse their opinion so far as to say that she' writes pleasantly, and prettily. The tale concerns the ‘decision of a young architect and a girl whom he meets in Europe in romantic circumstances, to renounce their prospects of happiness together, since he has already contracted to marry. It is mainly with the subsequent events in the life of Jill that the reader’s interest is engaged. Her fosterbrother, a brilliant surgeon, is likewise anxious to marry her, but practically on the ,eve of the wedding .changes occur which bring her at last , into the architect’s arms. The book is notable, if at all, for the author’s description of the attractive, erratic home life Jill Enjoys as the adopted daughter of a kindly retired sea captain. , * “ Cobweb Child ”

This is another pleasant novel, which shows considerable promise as a first book. Unfortunately, the author has little to say, and is inclined to overlay her picture of Jennifer, the girl who lives a life of her own .in the beautiful surroundings of a rambling Tudor house, with sentiment. Her observation .is good, and her portrayal of the heroine most sympathetic. The book will please many who seek quiet refreshment in its pages, and prepare others for something better from the same pen.

Reluctant Lovers In “When the Devil Was Well” W. H. Lane Cranford, who has ventured sucfessfully in the realms of humour and mystery fiction, offers a well-constructed plot and some very amusing situations. The story, however, does not come up to the standard of some of his earlier books. It is concerned with young Lord Lameering’s efforts to avoid a-marriage which he is being forced into by his mother, though the affections of neither party are centred on the other. His friend. Boh Royston, who is in love with the lady in the ease, needless to say is a powerful ally in his schemes, not all of which’ work out smoothly.

By Agatha Christie Bobby Jones, a golfer-hut not the golfer—and Dr Thomas are engaged in a round when Bobby’s ball swings into a chasm. There they find a man so badly hurt as'to be dying- While Bobby waits beside him he mutters, “ Why didn’t they ask Evans? ” and dies. In the man’s pocket Jones had found the picture of a very comely. young lady. Later happenings, especially an attempt to .poison him, lead this usually guileless young man to make a number of, inquiries, and, directed by Lady Frances Derwent, he unmasks as shocking, a plot as one can imagine. In the process he and Lady Frances have adventures in plenty, and find that they are on the roadrto romance. “ The Unknown Enemy "

Gret Lane, capable exponent of that type of mystery story which is expected to chill the reader’s bones, has succeeded in his mission in this book. Two members of the Strange family,, in a Wiltshire village, have been killed, and other lives are threatened when an ex-inspector of Scotland Yard and four friends lend their assistance to terrified old Mrs Strange in protecting her relatives and exposing a wily and inhuman murderer. The story is disturbing and gripping, and the author’s characterisation skilful, if not always convincing. “ Blood in the Mists ”

Under this title Mr Halpin, who himself endured imprisonment at Turkish hands during the war, gives an account of the experiences of the ratings in the A.I.F. and other British forces who- suffered in like manner. The book is intemperate in word and thought, and the disgust which it arouses in the mind of the reader is as often with the author’s lurid verbal extravagances as with the incidents be describes. There, is obviously much truth in the record, and it is to be regretted that Mr Halpin did not seek the counsel of a collaborator in committing it, to paper.

Claim Jumpers “ Guns o’ Hell ” is the picturesque title of a story which tells of a cold strike and describes the people who nock to the district. “ Slick ” Bardine is the leader of a gang of rascals who are determined to seize every claim. “Silverado Dan” and “ Nugget Ike,” however, have come to the diggings, and they know Bardine's methods. It requires no second thought to decide their course of action, and after much shooting and brawling the honest men triumph. Dan, too, finds a wife, and intimates that be has already reached heaven. .V, V. L.