RECENT FICTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22568, 11 May 1935, Page 4

RECENT FICTION

"Captain Patch." By T. F. Powys. (Chatto an* Windus.) , , _ "Three Act Tragedy." By Agatha Christie. (Crime Club.) ". • •fßomantlo Mood." By George Wright. (Selwyn and Blount.) "A Boyal Alliance." By Carlton Dawe. (Ward, Lock.) -. ■ : ■ "Hundred Altars." By: Juliet Bredon. (Hutchinson.) -J , ,_„„ "Dangerous Lady." By Malrl <V>alr. (Mills and Boon.) _•-':■•._". ..,, r. "Tha Top-Floor Killer." By W. Adolphe Boberts. (Ivor Nicholson.) *M'Glusky. M.P." By A. G. Hales. (W right and, Brown.) .. _ , „ m... •* The Saint in New York." By Leslie Charter*. (Hodder and Stoughton.) _ •TGun-Whlpped." By Kenneth Perkins. (Wright and Brown.) (Each Ts 6d.)

Short Storiea "Captain Patch" is a volume of unusual short stories which interest one and leave a vague impression that there is some profound allegory behind them. Readers of Mr Powys s nrevioua work ("Mr Weston's Good Wine." for example) -will be quite familiar with this feeling. There is a ■trbng spirit of medievalism in his work, although the setting is the countryside or tht present day. Quite simply ne transforms a lamb into a baby, makes his characters talk with God, and gives cats and birds human voices. His characters are entirely aimple; they seem capable of no more than one emotion at a time, reaembling the conventional figures in Bunyan. Mr Powys, however, does not.labei his, characters so plainly. Only one or two give any conviction of :being humanSoine of the stories lack only the appended moral to be, fables, and these are the most delightful of .the/collection. "The Gong," "Kin* Duck," " My Money " inci "The Wanter- are• among the best of these. Although.,-the purpose of the writing may be vague there is nothing indefinite about the 1 style and technique. which is simple and cleat-cut. The best of .the stories is'far above, the average, bnf there is so much-that, is incomprehensible in the collection that one hesitate* tt> judge the book as a whole. .

The Author Theodore Francis Powy« is a member ef a family rich in literary tradition and achievement. His father was descended from the ancient princes of Wales, and his mother sprang from a line that included the poets William Cowper and John Donne. He has two brothers who hayls distinguished themselves in the world of, modern letters. John Cowper Powvs's outstanding works are "Wolf Sokmt" and "Glastonbury Romance." Thfe; latter, published in 1933. was one of the£mi*t„«trikinß. books the year, and aroused considerable comment. The other brother is Llewellyn Powys, whose writings include the autobiographical "Confessions of Two Brothers," and "Black Laughter." T. F. Powys, himself. „was born in 1875. From youth he was determined, to be a writer, and for 20 years he practised his art before publishing anything. He is one of the most distinctive of stylists and is notable for the'simplicity of his 'language. An uncompromising realist, his material is also highly original. He is of a deeply religious nature, but he says of himself that "he believes a great deal too much in God. • Three-act Tragedy

Strange that the; Rev. Mr Babbington should have died after taking a glass of port, from a bottle, too, out of which othen had taken a glass at the same time! Later Sir Bartholomew Strange, M.D., die a in just such a curious way. At a dinner in his own house he quietly drinks the same port as others and passes away quietly, but with appalling suddenness. Then a Mrs Rushbridger, a patient in Dr btrange s hospital, also dies suddenly and mysteriously. Why were any of them murdered? —for murder it was. And who could have done it? One woman sensed the answer to the second question and fortunately Hercule Poirpt sent her away •in time. The solution to the mvstery 19 very interesting. The story, unfortunately, is a little long.'- "■ Romantic Mood. ■„ : As attractive and as .typically '" Ehg■hsh as ite cover design, "Romantic Mood, by George. Wright, is a distinctive first novel. He is-a'lover of the beauty of England;, and he gives full expression to this love inmakinpr the setting •of his story so largely rural. Oxford .and the Cotswolds are the chief scenes, ;.bnt Lincolnshire and .Wales are also :visited. Hi s .characters are slightly conventionalised to-harmonise with the quietness of the scenes. This is a subterfuge which requires;the treatment of a more accomplished -novelist/ to achieve success without detracting from the humanity of the protagonists of the drama. The book IS history, of .Marley Anderton, an English;* artist, and Yelena von Arden"polish-* woman of charm and beauty. They meet in Oxford in the spring and soon the " romantic mood" ha s them in its spell. Yelena has a German husband, from whom she is separated, and Andertdn is not free from ■cares, but the mood carries them beyond into a world of their own creation. Eventually, the declaration of love brings into prominence the question of the German husband.. He is summoned to talk tho matter over and his. solution is a duel. 1 i U a veiy obvious solution, to be sure, but the author manages to remove the obstacle from the path of the lovers without the unroniantic shedding of blood. Leathermouth " Once More Co l° n el Gantian,. or "Leathermouth," one of the ;few heroes of. modern fiction who can write in the first person without being unduly fatuous, has another interesting series of adventures to recount m A Royal Alliance." Most of the. action takes, place in Istania. a-turbulent State, mentioned in earlier stories, whither' -Leathermouth" goes to guard ita effervescent 1 and highly-immoral monarch, Paul. The latter's indiscretions have incensed a large proportion of his subjects,;and-these, together with a number of placeTseekers, are plotting his overthrow.- 'The recital of their circumvention by ; Colonel Gantian, handicapped by ignorance of their language, may not be entiriejy convincing, but it is sufficiently so to,•provide, pleasant pabulum for those who are not over-analytical. , . Change in China "Hundred, Altars" is the name of a village in Northern China, and round the lives of some of its residents Miss Juliet Bredon, whose first novel this is, builds a story which is far above the average. The writer is evidently well acquainted with China, and,, into the pages of her book, she'has put a wealth of knowledge and understanding concerning the char-acter-of ; .China's peasants. The central figurea. are- Ma; a merchant, and Shui Chihg,.his.wife; and the leading motif of the plot,is .the typically strong desire of* a Chinese-husband for a son. Shui Chrn£ ; .was childless; a second wife gave him only a daughter, Swallow. Ma progresses and wins a position in a large

*"— ! city, but his success does not satisfy him. Only with the marriage of his daughter and the birth of her son does he feel real contentment. Behind this there,is a background of changing lives. | Old China passes away, and new China ! turbulently conies into being. Ma's , adopted son, Young Tiger, plays his part • in it. He becomes a soldier, a wayward fellow, and dies in a brawl. Very skilfully is the transition period portrayed. One feels that this i« the real China, that j the characters are true to life, and that I their passions and thoughts are the pas- I sions and thoughts typical of the class j —and this is rarely experienced in read- i ing Chinese romances. Miss Bredon has | made a highly-creditable entry into the I writing world. Dangerous Lady Julie Marton was beautiful and also unscrupulous. Such a combination fully entitles the author to call her a dangerous lady even before she commences to prove it. A manikin in a dress shop, she borrows a dress model for a night, and is seen at a dance hall by the proprietor of the establishment. That meant that Julie

Marton was soon looking for another job. On arrival at her flat, after being dismissed, she found a neighbour dying in squalor, and the story she gasped out gave Julie her opportunity. It was to impersonate Kathleen, daughter of a wealthy financier who did not know of her existence. However, events turned out far different from her anticpiations. The financier was by no means lavish, and her thwarted desires brought out all the worst that was in her. An attempt at murder indicates her temperament. She comes to a deservedly bad end, and the true heiress finds happiness.

A Multiple Murderer In "The Top-floor Murderer," Aclolphe Roberts has given us an exciting story. One after another residents of top-iloor rooms are murdered for very small gain. Sergeant Lon Garvey almost catches his man, and is surprised that nearby on the same evening a fearful murder, with thp effusion of much blood, has been committed. But the victim's body has disap peared. There follow two other crimes, the second being the shooting of Inspector Kinsella. Garvey then baits a trap very neatly, and finde his man. The reader, however, will hardly expect the revelations that follow, though he will be delighted with the romance of Lon and Rose.

M'Glusky—Politician A. G. Hales has proved the versatility of his over and over again, but many readers who have followed the fortunes of his most famous character —M'Glusky— will be surprised to find that in his latest effort he has forced the indomitable Scot into. politics. The story sets out to lay bare the real, or imagined political faults of the present system of government, but it does not show its hero as M'Glusky enthusiasts would have Mm. Gone is the fanatic of " M'Glusky the Reformer," gone is the brave soldier of Gallipoli and hardy explorer. Tn his place is a politician—" the people's Watch-dog." He is no longer the man of action; he is the man of words, and many readers will mourn the degeneration.

The Author Mr A. G. Hales has had almost as varied and adventurous a career as his famous character, M'Glusky. He was born in Australia in 1870, and 'first attracted notice by his work as correspondent for the Daily News in South Africa during the Boer war. During the operations he was wounded and taken prisoner at Rensburgh. Later he was correspondent in Macedonia, and also during the Russo-Japanese war. His reputation is that of one of the leading special cor-

respondents in the world. He has travelled over a great deal of the world, partly as a special correspondent and partly in search of sport and adventure. He is keenly interested in mining, and has investigated nearly every major field in the world. He has also studied the mining, pastoral, and agricultural possibilities of South America. He is best known to-day, however, as a" writer of adventure stories, the most popular being the M'Glttsky series. In My Life ot Adventure " he has told the story of many of the leading. events of his life.

" The Saint in New York " Another chapter in the career of that debonair freebooter, "The Saint," is unfolded in the presentation of his " saintly " in New York. Engaged primarily in a war of vengeance against a coterie of kidnappers and gangsters, the conflict develops into a life and death struggle with a mysterious opponent whose identity is a closely-guarded secret. In a series of deadly encounters the outer ring of henchmen, who guard the sanctuary of this personality, succumb to superior tactics and mental agility. The rattle and roar of musketry and machine guns forms a theme song that invest every chapter with cacophony of .sound and sudden death. "The Saint*' sets a terrific pace that is maintained until the last round-up wherein swift justice overtakes sundry malefactors.

Gunwhipped When James Chilton left for parts miknown to save his friend from being suspected of murdering a man whom they knew to have committed suicide, lie expected to experience a little excitement. The hunt for him which resulted, and the exceedingly stiff proposition he found himself up against in battling for his life in'the "badlands" of the' West were more than he bargained for. Jim proves himself a man, however, and, incidentally, wins the sister of the three Brodells, self-appointed sheriffs of Cobb's Coulee, and is received into the family. This is a quick-moving Western, in which the action is really kept up to the last page.

Dickens as Editor " The first editor of the Daily News was the most famous of all editors, and perhaps one of the worst, as his reign was certainly one of the shortest. Dickens was not without newspaper experience. . . . Tlie fact is Dickens could not learn, and he certainly made no effort to master, his business. . . . Dickens practically resigned in a month, and Mr Micawber [his father, manager] with him. ... It must not, however, be forgotten that, if Eyre Crowe and Charles Wentworth Dilke watered the paper, Dickens, despite his failure, had planted it. Without him it would never have come into existence. It wa s his personal friends that supplied the funds. . . . Justly is his name still honoured in Rouverie street, where a facsimile of the letter in which he sketched his ideas is kept as a decalogue and an inspiration for his successors."—From "Early Victorian England, 1830-65." Edited by G. M. Young. Literary Appetites

■ "Men differ enormously, of course," says Itobert Lynd, writing on " The Causes of Unreadableness" in John o* London's Weekly, "in their capacity for finding things readable. . . . Sainsbury, with his' Gargantuan appetite, could read third-rate novelists and poets with relish: a man of less robust appetite cannot read them because it seems a waste of time ... when there are so many masterpieces still waiting to be read."