NEW NOVELS

Southland Times, Issue 23782, 1 April 1939, Page 14

NEW NOVELS

New Zealand Story By Robin Hyde

THE GODWITS FLY. By Robin Hyde, Hurst & Blackett Ltd., London, through Whitcombe & Tombs. Price

Robin Hyde’s novels are interesting as the products of a mind which, from a creative point of view, is always in danger of division. A poet who can write realistic fiction is exposed to special temptations and difficulties. Sometimes the poetic vision is in the ascendant, and the result is a book like “Wednesday’s Children,” which in its less successful parts came close to whimsy and at its best moments had the unmistakable voice of poetry. In “Passport to Hell” and “Nor the Years Condemn” the central figure demanded realistic treatment, although in the second of these books the author sueceeded in placing her character against pictures of the New Zealand background and evoking colours and moods which provided balance to the story. “Nor the Years Condemn” may later be recognized as Robin Hyde’s best novel. In the meantime “The Godwits Fly” seems to be an attempt to bring the poet and the good reporter, to a fruitful collaboration. Briefly it is the story of a rather pathetic little family, the Hannays, who live in various parts of Wellington and are handicapped by the conflict between John’s deepening failure—leading to bitterness—and his wife Augusta’s determined attempt to keep up appearances. The three little girls—Carly, Eliza and Sandra —grow up in an uneasy family atmosphere, troubled by frequent changes of home and school, by the quarrels of their parents and later by their own attempts to come to terms with life. It is not long before events are shown increasingly through the eyes of Eliza, an attractive child whose appetite for beauty is appeased by her occasional verse-making. Her eager spirit leaves her without defences when Timothy comes along. This young man is elusive, impulsive and inclined to be irresponsible. His love for humanity, however, is no abstract impulse, but takes him on hopeful journeys in search of fellowship. He loves Eliza, but not strongly enough to stay in New Zealand and marry her. and it is the reaction from disappointment (none the less severe because she can understand and explain Timothy’s behaviour) which drives her into a rather unsatisfactory affair with someone else. From this point the story loses much of the brightness that- is in the earlier pages, and is never very far from tragedy. Eliza’s Sydney experiences are told with realism, although there is a thickening light over these pages which suggests the fluid sequences of a painful dream. At the end Eliza is in possession of her soul, but the vision can never be quite the same again. The first part of this book is extremely good, especially the pictures of family life and the glances into the minds of the little girls. All the characters are real, with the possible exception of Timothy. But “The Godwits Fly” is not the completely satisfactory book that must come when the poet and the novelist achieve a final balance in the mind of this important New Zealand writer.

Tragic Honeymoon THEY WANTED TO LIVE. By Cecil Roberts. Hodder and Stoughton, London, through W. S. Smart. Price 7/6. In “Victoria Four Thirty” there was an attractive young railway porter, Jim Brown, who envied the hundreds of passengers he saw leaving each/day on their way to the Continent. In “They Wanted to Live” he has his chance: winning a football pool enables him to marry his Eliza, a teashop waitress of high ambitions, and spend his honeymoon in Europe while still retaining enough money to buy a small confectioner’s shop on his return. The honeymooners blithely set off, unaware of the excitement and tragedy which lies before them. In Paris they meet Mr Waddle, a pleasant figure, whose purpose in life is to make the world folk-dancing-minded. He trots about Europe organizing folk-dancing congresses and trying to stimulate interest in a world-wide federation in which he is the sole authority. The first adventure of Jim and Eliza (now, at the girl’s instigation, James and Betty) is to smuggle a baby out of Austria for a famous Jewish conductor who is being persecuted by the Nazis. The honeymooners are at first not willing to undertake such a risky task, but their blood is stirred by a scene in a Viennese restaurant in which a group of Austrian Jews are baited and injured by loutish Nazi officers. After this adventure has reached its climax, the story flags a little. Jim and Eliza move on to Budapest, and for a time Mr Roberts is very fully occupied with descriptions of the country through which they travel and the people they see. It is in Budapest that the second main action of the book begins. Jim’s wife is an extremely beautiful young woman, courageous but vain and self-centered. The pleasures and comfort of their travels make her unwilling to return to the life that awaits them at home-work in a confectionery shop. She attracts a dashing young Hungarian count; and ultimately the breach comes. But that is not the end of Mr Roberts’s story. International events move swiftly from Berchtesgaden to Godesberg to Munich, Betty and her count are caught up in them, and the final, tragic scene is played in Prague at the time the Czechs are forced to capitulate to Germany. Cecil

Roberts is one of the most skilful of present-day novelists. His types are cleverly suggested, he touches current events with vivid comments, he can be lively, dramatic or poignant. “They Wanted to Live” should be widely enjoyed.