Spanish Lover.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 192, 14 August 1931, Page 8

Spanish Lover.

Week-End Books

By F. H. Spearman.

SPEARMAN has delighted us with several good Western yarns, notably

“ Nan of Music Mountain ” and “ Whispering Smith/’ two immensely popular stories which were published some years ago. The late.. - ; story, “ Spanish Lover,” is, however, a splendid historical romance dealing with Don John of Austria. Philip of Spain, and the Emperor Charles the Ffth. I enjoyed every chapter of this stirring book and can recommend it to any reader We make the acquaintance of John as a l / in humble circumstances, then as the son of Charles the Filth, and later on as a prince of the Spanish court. Soon he meets the beautiful Princess Carmen, last fo the House of Arcos, but this dream comes to a tragic end. Accused of scandalous conduct Don John is adjudged guilty and is banished from the court for six months. Humiliated by this false accusation he goes to sea. Returning to court life he quarrels with the Count de Castro, a sinister renegade, and a duel is- fought, the result of which is that Don John is sent to the Spanish galleys under Admiral Orgas. lie loves the sea and, at twenty years of age we find him in command of a light galley, and its exploits become a thorn in the side of the Turks. This part of the story is very thrilling indeed, the description of some of the actions being colourful. Don John now undertakes a daring adventure upon the shores of the Dardanelles and ultimately falls into the hands of the Turks, and so meets his second love, Miriam, daughter of Ali Pasha. He again meets his enemy, de Castro, and there is a spirited fight. After many experiences of slave life and other episodes of adventure, Don John escapes in a startling manner, and upon reaching home is appointed commander-in-chief of tne land and sea forces. On September 15, 1571, he put to sea with his fleet to meet hundreds of Turkish ships for the action off Lepanto. Mr Spearman gives a strikingly realistic story of this great battle and Don John’s magnificent adventures ere he meets and conquers Ali Pasha and then claims Miriam. A great story this, full of adventure and romance based upon the life of Don John, and bringing vividly before the reader the perilous days of the 16th century. Little Silver Leaves. By Kathlyn Rhodes. J£ATHLYN RHODES is the authoress of over a score of novels* and all have been popular with feminine readers. Those fond of adventure and romance will enjoy the latest story, which opens in Budapest. There we find Eliot Leith, an Englishman who is spending a holiday in this gay city, and who chances to meet there a rather charming English girl. Later on he sees this girl in the company of a foreigner Who is this charming girl and why is she with this sinister-looking foreigner? Presently there is a brawl in a restaurant and Eliot rescues the girl from a difficult position, at the same time making an enemy of the man. The scene now changes to Cairo, where we find Eliot in charge of a particular engineering job. lie manages to see a little of the life in this portion of the world and is astounded to discover the same girl, known to her friends as lona Loraine, the mysterious girl of the Budapest ca'fe. This time she ignores the previous acquaintanceship, a fact which mystifies Eliot. Events move swiftly and there are more mysterious happenings, hints of the whereabouts of a secret packet, the figure of a man silhou etted against a window, a mysterious visit to lona’s room, the reappearance of the nasty little foreigner, a shot, and someone is wounded. There is much more to interest the reader, and the Eastern scenes are wonderfully well done. We are carried along to a thrilling climax and at last understand the mysteries. An enthralling story which should prove acceptable to a large ci¥&e of readers. ERNEST J. BELL.