BOOK OF THE WEEK

Taranaki Daily News, 16 April 1932, Page 13 (Supplement)

BOOK OF THE WEEK

WIDELY READ AMERICAN

(Bj

C.E.)

“A Path to Paradise,” by Coningsby Dawson: Cassell and Co., Ltd., London and Melbourne, through Thos. Avery and Sons, Ltd., New Plymouth. Readers of this column have to thank, or otherwise, a paragraph of IS lines in a London periodical for the choice of “A Path to Paradise” as the book of the week. Had I had nothing but the ‘‘blurb” on the publishers’ jacket to guide me I should have missed a good story, for that very picturesque effort opens alarmingly. “Santa’s was ‘some’ record,” it announces; “‘a vamp when she was a flapper; at eighteen she chose the wrong man; at twenty she was divorced.’” Need I ask you? That sentence looked like nothing on earth, and this column is not for the purposes of such things. But the aforesaid paragraph came to my aid during a few moments of vicarious reading.

“Coningsby "Dawson is one of the few American novelists who arc widely read this side of the Atlantic.” This was an English critic’s manner of introducing his few lines a'bout “A Path, to Paradise,” and it was sufficient. If British readers who are not in the habit of lavishing their attentions on American novelists can find one who deserves a wide public he must have his good points, and if Coningsby Dawson can command their allegiance there is no reason why New Zealand should not enjoy him. Santa Dawn (dreadful name, isn’t it?) is, as readers of the story may readily ascertain, not nearly as bad a young person as Mr. Dawson's publishers would have us believe.. Perhaps I am a bit impressionable, but I certainly should describe Santa as a very charming young woman, in spite of her obvious defects and the fact that she affords an unusually clever study in character drawing. She is the spoilt daughter of rich American parents — spoilt by a quite impossible mother. Very much in love with her when the story opens is Clive Doncaster, an exceedingly presentable young man four years her senior. By way of establishing their various identities let me quote: “Eric Dawn, Santa’s father, had been engaged to Clive’s mother. She had changed her mind by the ruthless expedient of elopement. The bold Lochinvar, Clive’s father, had died within a year of the marriage. Five years later Clive’s mother had died, appointing Eric Dawn as her son’s guardian. If a compliment had been intended, it hadn’t been relished. Eric Dawn had patched his heart by taking to wife Judy Summers, who had brought with her a private fortune derived from Summers’ Wall Papers.” Regarding her dead rival’s choice of a guardian as “sentimental blackmail,” Mrs. Dawn had carried off herself and her infant daughter to Europe, and European sojourns had grown to be a habit. It was not until Santa was 13 that “as arbitrarily as she had flown the domestic coop Judy had reclaimed its shelter,” the reason being that if Santa “were eventually to marry and settle in America it was high time she became an acclimatised American.” So Santa, with Clive in attendance as her “unpaid male governess,” had been ■brought to the age of 18 by a mother who thought her one aim in life should be to marry well. Clive, of course, earning a miserable 10,000 (dollars) a year, was out of the question, though he was not sure about it himself.

Now we kjiow all about the Dawn family. 'Santa seems to have developed rapidly under her mother’s tuition, to be flattered by all the admiration she receives, and by no means averse to frequent “petting parties” for two. Suddenly she rejects Clive and makes up her mind to marry the uneuphoniously named Dicky Dak, who is 10 years older than Clive. She confesses that she loves Clive, but she must follow 'her “instinct” and do what she considers wise. “Do you love him?” asks Clive. “No girl’s so dumb as to marry for love nowadays,” replies Santa. “Then for what?” “Companionship.” “You’re refusing me for the crazy modern reason that I love you?” asks Clive. “Darling,’* is the reply, “don’t you see that two people who are truly in love, as you and I are, never .ought to marry? It would be fatal . .. . {People in love expect too much. For one thing they expect that love is going to last for ever. Because of that they think that love is.' sufficient. If they couldn’t get teach other in any other way, they’d leap over a precipice, kidding themselves that they wouldn’t be hurt because. they were together.”

So Santa marries Dicky, finds him a loafer and a waster, and within two years divorces liim. Clive marries .her at once, but life is not quite smooth. Santa has too much money, and Clive not enough. TJien Dicky comes into his father's fortune, and Santa is fired with a desire to reform him. Dicky is so frequent a guest as to threaten the happiness of Clive and Santa, biit at length the problem is solved. It is a very merry story. For all her foolishjiess and her exaggerated modernism, Santa is a delightful character, and it says much for her that she is always faithful to her husband. One can imagine that she is the genuine product of a certain type of American life, and that Mr. Dawson gives a very true picture of conditions in the section of society his characters represent. But that is not to say that one becomes obsessed with the idea that his novel has a serious purpose, beyond that of entertaining his readers, which he does most adequately. Of course there are times when the dialogue runs into pure Americanese, ■but it is not so shockingly exaggerated as it might be, and for the most part 'Mr. Dawson writes clean, clear English. There is no need for a dictionary to help one disentangle mouthfuls of bizarre words “slobbered” by aggressive Americans.

Mr. Dawson's style is bright and snappy. He has a keen sense of values and makes his episodes effective by refusing to permit the action to drag; in fact, his novel seems to be the product of bis national characteristics. Rapid fire action is the source of his strength; his hustle methods do not induce him to scamp anything, but they certainly keep the story moving along, with the result that one reads eagerly.

New 1/d titles issued by Herbert 'Jenkins, Ltd.—The Compulsory Wife, 'by J. Glyder; The Bartered Bride, by Mac Gill; Anthony Trent, by Martyn; A Daughter in Revolt, by Goodwin; His Other Wife, by Roy Vickers; The Winning Clue, by James Hay; A Damsel in Distress, by W'odehouse; The Markenmore Mystery, by J. S.. Fletcher. The®, Avery and Sons. Ltd., New Plymouth.