BOOK or THE WEEK.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

BOOK or THE WEEK.

AN INTERESTING FAMILY

(By

C.E.)

“Blue Flames.” by Riehmal Crompton: Hodder and Stoughton. Ltd., London, through W. S. Smart-, Sydney, During recent yeans M;a? Riehmal Crompton has written a number of very successful novels of family lite, prominent among them the members of the. trilogy relating to the Wildings. lam reminded in the publishers’ note that ho less an authority than “Punch” in its review of “The Wildings” suggaffed that the family ■should furnish material for “a saga on bie lines of the Trer.chards and the Forsytes.’ That represented very high praise indeed,

besides being apt prophecy, though one could not regard it as a warrant for putting Miss Crompton on a pedestal level with Galsworthy's. Good as her work habitually is, neither her analytical power nor her literary style can honestly be regarded as entitling her to such eminence. Comparisons, however, are neither very helpful nor at all necessary, for Miss Crompton has ample claims of her own to the attention of fiction readers. , She excels in stories of - what the experts in social -distinction would probably describe as the higher middle-class folk of English life. • In “Blue Flames” she has filled her caste with successful men of commerce and their people, a professional man or two, and, somewhat in tlie distance, a few of the .“landed gentry,” and she has- told a natural story of the daijy life of this quite interesting, and often entertaining collection. There is something restful about a novel of this kind, and it is all in its favour that the novelist covers a fairly long period of the life of her characters. One has the satisfaction of watching their development and getting to know them rather intimately.

The period covered by “Blue is 31 years, 1890 to 1930. The story opens at the village of Rossdale, not far from Bradford, where Mrs. Palmer, a young widow, has taken a house for the holidays. She has three sons—Roger, who is 15, tall for his age and handsome; Stephen, also inclined to be tall, and Ken, who is mildly celebrating his twelfth birthday on the first day of the holidays. All three are boarders at a good school, where Roger lias gained fame through his athletic provzess, and the mother’s resources are only just sufficient to enable her to keep them going in reasonable comfort. Mrs. Palmer Is a. very beautiful woman, who snliles-and laughs her way through life. There is, of course, a very definite character behind the smile, but* it is not that but the development of her boys that is the object of study.

Mrs. Palmer adores her eldest son, who Is considerably spoilt and has no interest apart from games. Stephen, is 'a goodnatured; rather colourless individual, who has the happy knack of making the most of the circumstances in which he finds himself. Ken is something of a mystic and a poet, peculiarly sensitive and very tender with the others, He is a duffer at sports—short-sightedness is one of his handicaps—and Roger has little to do with him, though Stephen, when not occupied with the older brother, makes a gfeat deal of . Ken. During the holiday they meet Barbara,' daughter of the vicar of Bossdale, and Ken.confides to his mother that he - will come y back some day. to marry Barbara. The 1899 episodes, end with J;he marriage of Mrs. Palmer to Matthew Fellowes —ten years older than herself, very well off, and very much in love with his beautiful bride. • •

We meet the family again ten years later. Roger has gone into Matthew's business, but merely looks into the office when not occupied with sport; Stephen has settled down to life with a very solid manufacturer, and Ken is about to enter his uncle’s manufacturing business. Stephen is making good, thanks largely to the efficiency of his secretary, Susan, a relative of his principal’s. Matthew’s ward, Faith, now comes on the scene, and when Roger seeks permission to marry her there is trouble. Roger’s refusal to take business seriously results in his dismissal, and he secretly marries Faith. Stephen becomes engaged to Celia, who appears to be a- very ordinary girl, and Ken learns that Barbara Is not for him. She loves Dr. Martin, who has married someone else. The placid Stephen does a wonderful thing, suddenly going off and marrying the efficient Susan, and in order to prevent Celia committing suicide Ken has to promise to marry her ■himself.

Now the story takes a long skip to 1919 —the authoress shows courage and wisdom in passing over the war. Ken and Celia are living amicably enough, though they seem to have nothing in common. : Susan, now a famous host&ss, is pushing Stephen along at a great rate. Roger and I aith are living a country sporting life on the allowance made by Roger’s mother. There' seems to be a danger of Ken and Celia drifting apart, but the birth of a daughter to them brings 1919 to a hopeful. close. All that is needed now Is a glance at their lives in 1930, and the authoress contrives to make it a happy one. Therein lies Miss Crompton s worst fault. She must work out all the complexities of her plot to happy endings. Even Roger's wife dies gracefully and makes way for a successor, while Barbara is not condemned io end her days in loneliness., Ken’s marriage Is perhaps the most amazing thing in I the story, for it is blatant melodrama, even I though. Miss Crompton unquestionably turns it to good account. But if the novelist’.? plot Is not always art her character studies are. Each of her people has a distinctive personality, and each takes a definite place in the story. And she draws charming pictures of family life. One gathers the impression that she takes a great deal of pains with her writing, not merely in her choice of diction but also in the way of dressing her stage. She writes, too, with vivacity and occasional sparkle. Susan manoeuvres a baronetcy for her husband, and then at last they have a child. “Having secured they baronetcy," we are told, “Susan had proceeded to produce an heir for it with thesame calm efficiency with which elie did' everything.” A woman, who can write that sentence knows how- ip hold her tenders.