DECENT FICTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23691, 24 December 1938, Page 4

DECENT FICTION

" God and the Wedding Dress." By Marjbrie Bo wen (Cassell). "Chaos." By Shaw Desmond (Hutchinson), 9s. " Quinney's for Quality." By Horace Annesley Vachell (Ward, Lock). . " «?ud On My Slockings." By Oliver Sandys (Hurst and Blackett). "Too Many Cooks." By Rex Stout (Crime Club). " $Ke Twisted Face." By Frederic Arnold Kummer (Hutchinson). " When Fools Endanger Us." By Robert Ladline (Jenkins). " Shootin' Melody.' By E. B. Mann (Wild West). (Each 7s 6d unless otherwise stated.' By Marjorie Bow en With all due deierence to Miss Bowen's reputation' as a writer of historical fiction, this is not a good novel. The-fault' does not lie with the historical approach; That is as well done as one would expect from such a pen Nof is it with the atmosphere created That' is sufficiently real and life-Like. even if it does not touch the vivid evocation of Johann Fabricius or Julian Duguid, those masters in the re-creation of times past. The trouble is in the emotional and spiritual approach. Miss Bowen .here retell.in the Actional form a ' well-known story of the Plague year, 1666 It ■; the story of a village in the Peak district in Derbyshire. The plague is brought to this wild village in a wedding dress sent from London for th<vicar's sister-in-law. The vicar : and the- : dissenting preacher who still dominates the neighbourhod, though his presence since the Restoration is quite illegal determine to draw J boundary round the village and tep everyone inside to prevent the plague spreading to the rest of Derbyshire At the opening of the book we are shown the primitive villagers, nominally controlled by the cultured but slothful young clergyman, William Mortipesson, a man with mystical impulses but an unformed; character ana a vacillating will, troubled and uncerThe plague comes, and with 'I ' rage'dy. He forms the . fatal and medically unsound plart for fighting the ,:plague, against which he pits his small medical quackery of lotions and fumigahts, "and sees wife, sister-in-law, preceded by iier worthless lover, and all his five; hundred villagers, sav«» fifteen, fall;.'victims-to the scourge-; The experience is supposed to him spiritually, andMeave him freed of gross passions and firm set on his path. Actually Miss Bowen does no* draw a very satisfying picture of th=> effect of so much suffering upon the vicar himself. The details of the plague, However accurate, do not make pleasant' 6r\ refreshing reading, and so many deaths for .the salvation of one soul seem to be a very ponderous, mechanism'.for,God to adopt.. At'thft. end of thV'book one feels that the mountains have laboured but have produced only a very small mouse. " God and' the ■ Wedding Dress is almost uniformly depressing. The tragedy of character is ennobling to the reader, the tragedy produced by man's ignorance, as depicted here, is neither .ennobling nor elevating. The person Who finishes these pages with-' out being deeply and unpleasantly affected will possess a fortunate msensitiveness to related suffering. The World in Ruins Mr Shaw Desmond's new novel, " Chaos," is a fictional forecast of that Greater War which many people consider inevitable. Set in .the unpleasantly proximate period of the nine-teen-forties, this story draws a vivid picture of a wprld in chaos, a chaos much greatei than most of us care to think of. It all begins with a mysterious air raid over London, and within a year the greater part of the world is involved. At the end of five ysars the chaos remains, but the booK manages to close on a note of hope, with a brand-new World- being built on the ruins' of the old.'- Amidst the great sweep of terrifying events that occur throughout this novel, "it. ;is not easy to display miich interest in the personal characters -whom one meets. They are a queer, vassbrtrrieritt .most of them belonging ti> factions: such az that of the Militant'Pacifists (confused individuals who enthusiastically' enter into war as a means of.showing how much they hate it)'. Most of the principal characters are fantastic types, and hence quite diverting, but there is a touch of fancy about all of them that makes them unconvincing, especially in the way chey change' their minds so-readily. "Chaos" is essentially a book for a modern age. and despite some unpleasant features it will probably find much favour. Joe Qumney Again Mr Horace Annesley Vachell has created a ; very real and likeable character in Joe Quinney, and his re-

appearance in " Quinney's for Quality" will be welcomed by many readers But to a degree he occupies a subordinate place in this volume. Jodiegirl, his granddaughter, now Mts George Bason, really has the centre of the stage, and shows that it is possible for a girl to be a chip of the old block. We have an account of her work.as a buyer of antiques She is her grandfather's partner, and doe? not make mistakes. The climax of the; story comes when Jodie's baby is bom •md Susan, Lady Quinney, sets herseif

in determined opposition to the very latest up-to-the-minute nurse—and triumphs victoriously. Victory for Perseverance One can always pick up a book dv the lady who writes under the penname of Oliver Sandys without -any fear of one's mood being depressed bv it. Always peopled by the charming persons one could imagine, her books invariably make pleasant reading, even if they are seldom remarkable for their depth. The latest to hand, "Mud On My Stockings." 's the romance of a young girl who has set her' heart on winning fame and fortune in tiie film world. Everything from her youth and inexperience to the competition of tar more highly decorative aspirants to stardom seems to be ranged against her, and the tale of her struggles and final victory is told in the author's best style Death of a Chet Once every five years Les Quinz-c; Mai ires, the click of the fifteen leading hotels in the world, hold a reunion. Each was allowed to bring one guest, and it was as a guest that Nero Wolfe came to the meeting at Kanawha Springs. The highlight of the reunion centred around a Sauce Printemps, the specialty of Phillip Laszio in which there were nine seasonings besides oalt. Nine dishes were laid out, each without one of the seasonings and the remaining chefs and Nero Wolfe were to record their guesses as to the seasoning omitted from each dish. When Wolfe's turn came he entered the rjom to find Laszio murdered. Each of the chefs had good rea.son to dislike the murdered man, and Nero Wolfe's holiday gave him one of the most difficult cases of his careei This is the first appearance of the obese, humorous detective in the Crime Club series, and the acquisition is a notable one. Rex Stout was early marked down as a detective story author of the first rank, and "Too Many Cooks" fully bears out the promise

"The Twisted Face" Frederic Arnold Kummer can write a thriller in which the reader is given all the facts and is yet in the position of one who is surprised at the end. Miss Carey dies—a little unexpectedly —but she is an old woman and paralysed. Her house and its contents, excepting the collection of books, are left to her niece, Sallie Martin, an art student in Paris. Sallie returns, goes out to see her inheritance, is surprised by the reflection of a fierce, curiously twisted face in a mirror. Later, a corpse falls out of a jupboard, a mulatto girl is murdered, and it is found that Miss Carey had been poisoned. The essential dues are all given, but most readers will, we feel sure, miss the two points that ought to direct their attention to the murderer.

"When Fools Endanger Us" This is a sheer thriller, impossible in its happenings, vigorous.in its action, nebulous in its result. Robert Ladline's hero is Remington, a healthy, husky type of man who delights in a "scrap.' : Wong Thoori is still with him, as also is Clarice, his vigorous-minded wife. Quite accidentally he runs against Muller, an old enemy, who is engaged in some nefarious enterprise to " work old England's downfall." The Government of the day is obsessed with the idea of goodwill to all men. "Rem" and his colleagues take a hand, and the realm is restored to sanity in good time. The method is drastic, calling for courage and resource.

“ RhoothT Melody ” The rifle shot which caused Ben Melody to perform some ungraceful contortions in leaving the saddle for the nearest available shelter was the signal for the commencement of some mysterious and ruthless action in the country surrounding Tecuseh. The shot also provided an introduction to Lynn Curtis, former society girl who was now struggling to save her only possession, the Broken Arrow ranch Melody’s adventures in breaking up the unscrupulous gang make an exciting narrative in which a romantic interest is 1 well maintained. V. V. L