BOOK OF THE WEEK

Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1934, Page 13 (Supplement)

BOOK OF THE WEEK

STRIKING N.Z. STORY

"Spur of Morning," by Alan Mulgan. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.. London. A. JFyfe Ltd., New Plymouth. So crowded and so searching have been the war and post-war years that for a New Zealand writer to choose a period thirty years ago as the setting of a story about Dominion people and Dominion affairs denotes a good deal of courage. It should be said at once that “Spur of Morning” is no political _ history book. On the contrary it is a vivid and prehensive narrative of the lives of New Zealanders a generation ago; human stories which are having their counterpart played out in the Dominion today. Because the principal character in the book, “Mark Bryan,” rushes into politics with all the exuberance of a young reformer ready to rebuild the world in a hurry, Mr. Mulgan is obliged to show some of the workings of the Pohbcal machine in its far-off days when Dick Seddon ruled New Zealand. Those old enough to remember them will find Dominion history treated with care, accuracy and sympathetic judgment of men who with all the meaner things they were guilty of were genuine in their desire to give the underdog a chance. It shows that the book is written by a hand that can wield a pen when the reader is uncertain whether he admires most the vivid and comprehensive reality of the characters drawn, the excellence of the detail, the * author s diversity of observation of life in mean places, in happy homes and out of doors, or his subtle study of courageous young womanhood.

Mr. Mulgan is always good company. He has the lightness of touch that can make his- readers race up and down the field with him as they read of the heroic Rugby struggle between “Eden and the Capital team, and on another occasion could describe with real vitality the, first impression made by Parliament upon its newest and youngest member. The psychology of the book is almost unconscious. There is no attempt to lay bare the thoughts and emotions of the ordinary and extraordinary folk about whom the narrative is told. Mr. Mulgan brings family or individual vigorously to life. He sketches in a few words the background, and leaves the natural result to explain itself. Thus Mark Bryan, brainy student and splendid footballer, son of a working shoemaker, whose mother never felt she could kiss her big son though she often longed to, felt in the atmosphere of the Trent’s home, with its English associations, the charm of breeding and the freedom of a happy family, something that he desired for his own home life, though there is not an ounce of snobbishness in his make-up. Phillip Overton, the new chum from the Old Country, is another very interesting study. His mental journey is quickened by faffing in love with a New Zealand girl, and in the story of his courtship and that of Mark Bryan the author shows he can love reason and beauty together and still maintain his poise. Sylvia Feldon, daughter of John Feldon, a squatter Who had much wealthy a firm belief in himself and in his class as the backbone of the country, and of a mother who was only a social “climber,” is a most interesting character. Sylvia has some of the shrewdness that-has brought success to. her father,' though at one time it looked as though her mother's influence would lead her heart astray. '~ Chiefly, however, the book is the life story of • Mark Bryan, a; rebel even at school against authority that he considered slavish, a brilliant student, .a wharf worker in order to continue his studies, the rising hope of the Labour movement which Seddon so deftly wove into a less radical Liberal-Labour party that ruled New Zealand for so many years. Mark Bryan’s political career really began on the football field. His greatest success there coincided with the death of a local member of' Parliament, and almost against his will Mark is persuaded to become a candidate. ' He wins the election and reaches Parliament just as the Atkinson Ministery is disintegrating. The analysis and descriptions of that band of Radicals led by Ballance and Seddon are done with much shrewdness and sympathy, though the portraits are painted with the warts left in. The chicanery as well as the ideals of political life are shown, and the side-issues, the lives of the people Mark is most intimately associated with, give tremendous vitality to the story. Mark falls in love with Sylvia Felton, daughter of a class he and his leader have sworn to depose from the grip of New Zealand they have so long maintained. Such a courtship was bound to be interesting. Its effect upon' Marks personality is shown with dignity and restraint, for however, exciting or dominant are the political issues they are never allowed to smother the personal and domestic.

For a time the Fates seem to be kind to Mark. His steadfastness appeals to his leader “Braxton," and when the Liberal-Labour party wins the election Mark becomes a Minister. But he is lacking in the lesser craft of political stewardship, his infatuation for Sylvia makes him suspect, and he does not suffer fools or knaves gladly, whether they are of the right political colour or not. So the story ends in Mark’s failure to grapple successfully with the evil that is associated so often with progress, but he fails in good company, and while it seems clear that Mark is bound for political disillusion the book leaves him happy and all the implications of his disillusion still in the future.

“Spur of Morning” is not an ordinary novel. It has vitality all the,- way through, and the minor characters are etched with skilful clarity. Those who are interested in the development of what are now accepted as ordinary con; ceptions of the duty of the State, or in the life of a New Zealand community of yesterday, will find the volume of absorbing interest. Those who seek interest in the lighter chapters of the book will find full satisfaction in their quest. For the story is of folk of to-day as well as yesterday, and of people who can be met in any Dominion community. Such a narrative is a welcome addition to New Zealand literature, for the manner of its telling is pure gold.

Your friends and relatives overseas will appreciate a Christmas number: Auckland Weekly, . Free Lance, N.Z. Illustrated, Brett’s Annual, Otago Witness, N.Z. Traveller, will all be on sale on Monday, October 15. Some of the annuals were sold out in the second week of November last year, so procure early to avoid disappointment. Fyfe’s Ltd., “The Book People,” ’Phone 1397.*