RECENT FICTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23707, 14 January 1939, Page 4

RECENT FICTION

•• Fool’s ’Melody.” Anonymous (Hale). 8b 6d. “ Only. Mpgs Work.” By Walter Greenwood (Hutchinson). “ The Salvation of Pisco Gabar.” By Geoffrey fHousehold (Chatto and Windus). " Star Above Paris.” By J. G. Sarasin (Hutchinson),. . , " Murder Walks the.,. Deck.” J3y Wyndham Martyn (Jenkins). M Raid 'Over England.” By Norman LcsliciWard, Lock)-. > ", Bluff.” - .By. Francis Duncan (Jenkins). „ " Roll On. Little Doggies." By Gladwell Richardson (Ward, Lock). . 4s. (Each 7s '6d unless otherwise stated.)

“ Fool’s' Melody r’ ;It is not every author who will :'V„ attempt the transcendental and the attempt when made is. not always successful.- ?Miss Cost, ip “A .Man Named >Luke,?’ and less successfully ia “The Dark Glass,” is the most outstanding - practitionerin those misty , regions where metaphysics joins hands with : ftci3bti. / .But'. She„had hsr defects, most serious of which w£Ss a lighthearted telescoping of the time sequence to the detriment of plot with no sufficiently important gain of atmosphere, The author of ■“ Fool’s Melpdy ” has produced h more coherent and therefore a better, b00k,..' The:" apparent hero is Tony Severn, the actual one Sidney Patch, the musician, who is suffering from a mental lesion which the author leaves conveniently, obscure. Music is that.orfe of the arts which is the nearest to pure form, and therefore presumably nearest to the reality which philosophers and mystics declare lies behind the phenomenal. Sidney Patch s lesion had in some way opened a pathway in his brain to let the light through so that he could view the temporal concerns of his fellows sub specie aeternitatis and give them counsel. The book opens with Tony Severn s journey to the household of Dr Lennard, a most improbable place to send a nervous subject in search of rest. "For Dr Leonard had a large and turbulent family, mostly female, more or less ruled by a young but determined housekeeper who governed by default, as it were, the kingdom of the eldest daughter Olive, who was always busy organising things. There was also, of course, the disturbing Mr Patch, as well as an eccentric nonagerian lady, one Mrs Buchanan,

whose ability to survive' in the midst of such a family spoke volumes for her stamina. The characterisation is excellent except in the case of Dr Leonard, who ought to have been a pivot for the book, but with whom the author is never quite at ease. He hovers on the outskirts, a pale and unsubstantial servant of the house. The Moorings,” which had far more character than its owner. There are several conflicting affairs of the heart, one very black villain, and a number of mterwoVen themes, which are very cleverly, dealt with and very satisfactorily ter'•■■•■minated, not in the “bapraly ever .... .after ” fashion, but so_ that, one s _ imS agination is set working to continue the story on one’s own. The theme ’ proper is never stated. It remains un- ! plicit. But by that very lack of.state--1 ment it grips the mind most '.curiously, j. This is one of the . books that, one can-. ;; not relinquish until the end, and, as remarked, it has the power of stimuli lating most powerfully the readers j .own imagination. Quite what was the I; light that illumined Sidney Patch we !: are not told, only we suspect that that ! light has shone on the author herself, if we may make an almost certain |i guess as to that person’s sex. No one i; with even a slight taste for the super- ■ natural should miss this book, whether he or she be mystic, spiritualist or just plain human being. It is allusive and provocative, and never for one moment ■' is it dull. Our copy is from Whitcombe and Tombs. Sordid and Sensational

The Mr Walter Greenwood, who wrote “Love On the Dole.” and the Mr Walter Greenwood who is the author of “Only Mugs Work”,, are undoubtedly the same man. But Mr Greenwood, if we are to judge from his photograph before and'after, as it were, is capable of changing- his personality to fit his theme. “ Love On the Dole,” it may be recalled, was a harsh yet tender study of family life among the depressed ..classes of England’s artisan • ■'population. It was recommended bv archbishops and peers. “Only Mugs, Work” is also harsh, but it is without, tenderness, and its characters, except for a few unfortunate victims of the London equivalent of the gangster, are a vicious, unattractive company., with no redeeming /.virtues;'; Archbishops will not recommend this book, let alone read it. and!.;peers.'WlioSe knowledge of London doeg hot extend into Soho beyond the streets,of little restaurants, are most unlikely to view it favourably. In that, they may not be alone. Mr Greenwood seems to have:determined to be sordid and sensational, and if he has succeeded his achievement is still without great merit. More people will find the book dull than devastat-

Ing, and if Mr Greenwood is telling the truth about Soho’s underworld it is still difficult to accept his suggestion as to the extent to which crime flourishes in that well-policed neighbourhood; Historical Romance Regency Paris is the setting oi a new novel by J. G. Sarasin, “ Star Above Pans” This is a quiet-moving tale, beautifully told, of the tragic love affair of a great actress, Adrienne Lecouvreur. and an equally great adventurer, Maurice de Saxe. Mr Sarasin accommodates many people on his vast stage—the Lecouvreur herself, with her intense absorption in the drama; Saxe, who is more soldier than courtier; Perigord, the paintei, and his queer associates; Laubiniere the police officer, whose task it is to guard the greatest of the King’s players; Pauline, who comes to Paris from a convent to find a home in the actress’s household; and her ardent young champion Raoul Francoeur. All of these and many more play their parts in the drama that closes with the deaths of both the Lecouvreur and de Saxe. Mr Sarasin has achieved an absorbing if melancholy story.

Short Stories

A group of short stories by Geoffrey Household takes its title from the first of them, “ The Salvation of Pisco Gabar.” Mr Household is a craftsman and it would be difficult to find anything more neatly executed than his pleasant tale of Gabar’s conversion, after the latter’s unexpected participation in a religious festival amongst the simple Indians of a village in the Peruvian Andes. Mr Household does more than write well. He covers an impressive range of human experience in many countries. He. entertains while he informs the reader of types, habits and customs, and in no single instance does he fail to reveal a complete mastery of the short story form.- The Salvation of Pisco Gabar ’ is a book for the discriminating reader. • Anthony Trent Again Even for Anthony Trent, Mr Wyndham Martyn’s millionaire detective, the affair on board the luxury liner Cornubia had its embarrassments. The disappearance of the armaments king, Paul Zahn, and the murder of Trents old colleague, Inspector McWalsh.weie enough in themselves to keep Trent busy On top of those tasks of m-

vestigation, however, Trent had to uncover a plot to blow up the ship at sea. He succeeds in preventing such a drastic happening as well as m avenging McWalsh and locating Zahn, but not without risking his own life in a series of quite extraordinary adventures, “Murder Walks the Deck is developed in Mr Martyn’s best style. Thrills Galore A tale of dark deeds in an old Norfolk mansion is unfolded by Norman Leslie in “Raid Over.England.’ Count ZinO'wieff is the master plotter; on behalf of a foreign Power, who undertakes the organisation of an air attack designed to cripple all the key centres ot England’s defences. The plan fails, mainly because of the intervention in Zinowiefl’s schemings of Andree du Pays, formerly an agent of the French secret service, but now the wife of Sir David Ferrers, himself a flying ace of the war years. Ferrers and a group of his former flying companions also take a hand in the game against Zinowieff, which is played to an exciting finish in an air battle over the Norfolk coast. Mr Leslie shapes his story very competently. “Murderer’s Bluff ”

Francis Duncan’s story, to which he has givdn this title, is a really good thriller. Mordecia Tremaine finds the body of Geoffrey Paxton, dreadfully battered,, in a motor launch which has evidently been wrecked. But Paxton has been murdered, and one suspect after another is able to clear himself, Lewis Critchland alone excepted. Then Lewis is found murdered, his body flung over the cliffs. Tremaine discovers the solution, and though readers are given the whole of the facts, it may be safely said that not many will see the truth till it is told in the, last chapter. A Western Story “Roll on Little Doggies” is quite a readable Western tale of the troubles of a family who are travelling with their cattle to a new location. They are harassed by those whose, ideas of right and wrong are decidedly queer and it looks as if the chance of reaching their desinatlon is desperately small. Fortunately, they find a friend in “ Oklahoma ” Kildare. Finally, after sorrow and fighting more than enough they reach their location. But quite a number of lives had been lost in the small war which has been waged. V. V. L