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Otago Witness, Issue 3867, 24 April 1928, Page 74

CHSb”?JEN IN LONDON.

“The Si’c.nt House.” By John G. Brandon. Adapted from the play by John G. Brandon and George Pickett. (Clo<b, Gs net.) London: Cassell and Co., Ltd.

This is an exciting book, with a wealthy Chinese nobleman, Chan Fu, as hero. Richard Winsford, of the firm of Winsf.n’d and Legarde, traders, steals front a Chinese joss a red star made of rubies. Hjs partner is killed, and Madeline Legarde, Legarde’s small daughter, is kidnapped. But Richard escapes to England, where he occupies a large, silent house in London. He is attended there, for 10 years, by Benssn, a large, pugilistic-looking butler, and Ho-fang, a Chinese servant. Then one day, he is suddenly killed by the fall of a heavy copingstone, his millions of wealth going

to his nearest relative, Captain George Winsford.

No sooner does George, with his friend Captain Barty, appear than he becomes aware of hostility in the attitude of Benson, and devotion in that of Ho-fang. •Some valuable bonds are missing, and a search is made for them. Now enters Chan Fu. The Chinaman shows a peculiar -interest in the house and the bonds, and even sends a beautiful girls, under the influence of hypnotism, to rob it. Benson proves to be a traitor to Winsford, and the girl is the lost Madeline. Events are fast and furious. Killing, torture, abduction, fire, and so on lead the reader on a thrilling dance, and not till the very end do affairs right themselves. “ The Silent House ” belies its name, for it becomes such a scene of excitement that it is anything but silent. TWO BEAUTIFUL BOOKS. “ Epithalamion.” By Edmund Spenser. Illustrated with woodcuts by Maud Wethered. (The Helicon Series, V). “ The Eve of St. Agnes.” By John Keats. ,Illustrated by E. M. Craig. (The Helicon Series, VI.) Each, cloth, 2s net). London: John Lane (the Bodley Head, Ltd.). We have already praised the first four volumes of this new library—Theocritus’s Second and Seventh Idylls, Shelley’s Adonais,” Milton’s “ L’Allegro ” and 11 Penseros ” and Matthew Arnold’s The Forsaken Merman ” and “ The Scholar Gipsy.” The words we used then are applicable now. This series of famous poems published under the general editorship of Lindsay Drummond, each volume being illustrated and decorated in black and white, is artistic to a degree that cannot fail to appeal to all booklovers. The fifth and sixth books are as excellent as their predecessors. Maud Wethered’s woodcuts are appropriate for “Epithalamion”; and one is charmed with the pen-and-ink drawings which represent E. M. Craig’s interpretation of “ The Eve of St. Agnes.” THE WEEK-END LIBRARY, “ The Good Soldier.” By Ford Madox Ford. “ The English Comic Characters.” By J. B. Priestly. (Each, cloth, 5s 6d net.) London: John Lane (the Bodley Head, Ltd.) The Week-end Library. Here are two more additions to the Week-end Library, that new series of books of established reputation which the Bodley Head is issuing in uniform style attractively printed. “ The Good Soldier ’’ is, as Hugh Walpole describes it, “ Ford’s highest peak of genius because the subject is exactly suited to his ironic but tender treatment. Beautifully written. it is the creative size of it that remains—something created out of English soil and standing up true for ever.” “ The English Comic Characters ” is a picture gallery of character, where laughter goes hand in hand with criticism. Rich in colour, in sympathy, in tenderness, and in wit, the book is as remarkable for its genial humanity as for its firm critical grasp.

ELECTRIC COOKERY BOOK.

“ Whitcombe’s Modern Home Cookery and Electrical Guide.” (Paper board, 2s 6d .let.) Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd.

Electricity’ is rapidly becoming an everyday’ factor in facilitating domestic ■ labour and adding to its comforts and conveniences. This is the electrical age. and it does not need a great enthusiast to prophesy that the time will undoubtedly’ soon lie here when all our homes will be enjoying at least seme of its advantages. In order to act as some form of guidance for users and prospective users this book has been compiled. The first part gives much useful information on the electrical side, and it is information which is dependable: Measurement of Electricity, Charges for Electricity, Electricity in the Home, A Brief Guide to Electricity for Home Use, Light in the Home, Electrical Heating in the Home, Reading Electricity Meters, Load Factor: Diversity and Maximum Demand, “ Don’ts ” for Users of Electricity, Shock, and How to Avoid It, the Electric Motor in the Home, the Care and Economical Use of an Electric Range, Oven Wisdom, Food as an Energy Producer, Health Diet, Basic Elements in Food, and Kitchen Measures. In the latter part of the book will be found a selection of cooking recipes specially prepared for electric range users, all of which have been tried, tested, and proved. The recipes are unique inasmuch as in every case where possible oven temperatures together with the times required for cooking or baking are given. They will be of value to the many housewives who have adopted electricity for cooking purposes, and to the many others who will adopt it when they conic to the realisation of its . delightful possibilities.