OOK CORNER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 280, 29 November 1935, Page 5

OOK CORNER

REVIEWS “THE NEW GARDEN,” by Richard Sudcll A.K.H.S. (1 he Eng.ish Uuiveiaities Press) pp. 348. Gardens and gardening have a charm : for most home-builders and lovers. Yet I lirst we must have a garuen in the [ heart and the mind. Air. Yudell here • instructs us in delightful fashion how ; tu cultivate it in both and then to go i out and materialise affection and : \ i.'ion. He stands with us to view the : site, anticipates our eager questions and rather dubious apprehensions, and inc.i tens us how to oegin. Next we arc told that while there is no need to be a student of geology, yet we must know the material with wmich we | have to work; and so a discussion follows cu the different kinds of soil, how to work it with a minimum of backache, how to make it fertile’, what to do about weeds and soil pqsts, and what took to buy lirst. Now comes the excitement of planning out the different sections; where shrubs should be planted, lawns laid down, flower plots formed, paths outlined, vegetables grown, and, a very necessary essential, how the hcu c e and its appurtenances niu.-vt harmonise in the whol.e. All through the book the author strives to help the gardener to fulfil bis ideas and ideals with laboursaving devices, an urgent necessity for busy people who cannot afford hired help. Now we go out with the plan on paper and start into the real business, pegging out plots, solving problems of uneven or sloping ground, laving the paths, making steps and walls, shaping beds and borders. Mr. Sudell works steadily with us, quietly advising in such an unobtrusive way that we wJtk out our own plan without feeling thas our individuality is in the least degree swamped. He gives a lead, never drives, enabling us to see what to Do first, if the garden is to be developed gradually. Now comes the practical business of establishing a perfect lawn, a necessary adjunct, however tiny, or otherwise, our garden. Those who desire to lav down a hard court for tennis are given timely help. Next, comes that eager, joyous business, tl.debate regarding seeds or plants, and what should best serve our soil, aspect and purpose. This chapter on ‘‘Choice of Plants” always intrigues and 0.-r kindiv mentor is eager for us to get value for our money. The plan is made, the plants have been chosen, an i now comes the details of planting.

I Anain our queries are anticipated anc met in answers fully adequate i > mu varied needs, even to what kind < 1 ! stakes are best for different plants Everyman’s garden having been I’eti! with, attention is then given to type gardens; vegetables and herb< fruit in the home garden; and guider structures. All through the book au decorations in colour by Bip L’a .s photographs, plans and diagrams, analso lists of plants, fertilisers aril al rhe whatnot associated with garden: and gardening. A complete i.'ule: enables the gardener to turn v.u i’i stantly the answer to every prolileai a: it arises. The great virtue of ” IL< New Garden” is that Mr. Sudell wr-le: for the person with the average aria ol laud such as we have at our duposa iu New Zealand. Of course, be write; lot England, but we can easily m ecm inodate. By the way, rhe adje.-’i\• “new” has nothing of the ultrimod ern taint, but simply refers o .at gardener taking over a new hous? altei the builders have done their worst 1< the grounds. Many will be inspire I tx alter their present gardens, however that this better “new” may ip’’.v t< their property also. •'FINDING MEN FOR CHRIST,’ by -G. F. Dempster (Hoddir auc Stoughton) pp 128. Mr. Hugh Redwood wrote n a tecenl article in the News Chronicle o." hit need to find out matters concerning ships’ stewards. ,He went to the Sailors’ Palace at the gateway or Lon don dockland to enquire of padre who has his office there. It was an ex hilirating experience, for there he writ given in under 20 minutes sufficient in formation to make him a fountain ol knowledge about the subject. To Mr Redwood this padre in Cutcliffe Hine’s famous character, Captain Kettle ‘‘turned mission and welfare superintendent (you remember he had a religious bent) and preaching eve / Sunday.” The article proceeds: “Keep well out of the way of his eager eyes if you have any secrets you woulo rather not share. But if you want ' man to share them with, look in t>hose eyes and be sure you have foind him. You are in the presence of ai el.'lci brother, and one who has helped to build up and hold together out of the most wonderful brotherhoods in the world. ’’ “On more occasions than one Dempster has doffed his dog-collar and departed upon a quest of h : s own. Pcr- . haps it has been to stand shivering in the queue at the doik gate mi see what it feels like, day after iay of a chill November, when there is no work going. Perhaps it has been trace a wife or a child of whom word has been spoken in some heart-to-heart talk in that den of his. I ‘‘Once in a fog on the Embankment I two wretched tramps foregathered. | One had been trying to say a prayer i before slipping over the parapet into 'the river. The other was Dempster, land the would-be suicide changed his mind and his life. “The story of that encounter and its sequel would make a book by itself. There are enough stories in the famous card index —180,1)00 names with an average of 30 to 40 entries against every one of them—to make a library. I could tell you at least a dozen, but it wouldn’t be altogether fair. The last lime 1 saw George. Dempster he had a wad of manuscript under his arm.” “Finding Men For Christ ’ is that wad in book form. It is a most exhilarating series of stories told in unpretentious fashion by a man whose I sincerity and devotion are as clear and 1 enlivening as the sunlight. For him [“coincidences’’ are palpaly the constant result of IDivine planning and leading, and none can gainsay the I soundness of his arguments from ex- ] perlence. High adventure comes his ! wav in the ordinary course of his enterprising business of finding men for j Christ, as the concluding chapter conI vincingly records, as well as incidental I references elsewhere. As a rather un- ; conventional Christian Apologetist he I confounds a blatant, agitating atheist . on Tower 1 Hill, thereby finding an oppoitunity to lead another atheist into radiant Christian life. The old-time word “conversion” glows anew in this padre’s simple narrative, and for him “prayer is still more potent than any power of man or devil.” •ADVICE LIMITED,” by E. Phillips Oppenheim fHoddcr and Stoughton) pp 312. This is by no means Mr. Oppenheim’s happiest effort, yet one is fully entertained by the orig’nality of the eleven stories. Clara, Baroness Linz, runs a business of her own, known as “Advice Limited.” To her clients she speaks of a company of henchmen who do,the active work of investigation and leave, her to appear alone before the

clients. Of course, their company is an entire myth and the advice is the result of her own efforts. For the most part we aie nut shown how she manages to solve the various problems. Tne clients are described with the unerring touch of the author’s deft sense of personality and characterisation, the problems urging their seeking the assistance of ‘Advice Limited” are de; tailed in entertaining style, then we are given the denouement with the high quality of climacteric always present in an Oppenheim story. VVnile each tale is complete in itself, the discerning reader will soon note the underlying motif of romance running through them all. The consummation comes with sure inevitability iu the final. “THE BODY IN BEDFORD SQUARE,” by David Frome (Long mans, Grecuy pp. 284. Mr. Evan iiakertun and Inspector Bull are broug.it to us once again iu this thrilling story by the versatile David Frome. Tuose who have met Mr. Evan Pinkertuu beiore will not be surprised to find him indulging iu his penchant for wandering into mysterious hupp’enings. This timd‘ he wanders about m the murk of a London fog, stumbles over the body of a woman, and promptly plunges through his panicky behaviour into a whirl of iutngue, perplexity, and danger. Behind the murder are the manueavres of a band of criminals who cover up their tracks with ingenuity and puzzie the investigators as to motive as well as method,’ A proxiiincnt noveii»t with an amazing appeal for women is somehow tuu storm centre, but as to the why and how is more than ordinarily perplexing. Inspector Bud seeks to worry his way through, being most apprehensive of the late of Evan Binkerton all the tune, and always just too late to catch up with the little man. Mr. Frome dous liot hurry the action with any unseemly haste, because, as always, he is content to weave his web of mystery steadily that we might see it whole. Pinkerton cannot stand up against the strong, overbearing personality, of one of the plotters, and yet by the very iunkiness of his make-up brings ail the criminals to book and solves the problem to the final punctuation mark. There are no dull pages in the sCory, always a strain ol suspense that is not overdone, and frequent situations of a fantastic nature that are never overdrawn. Mr. Frome has won warm enconiums from fellow-craftsmen for his ether tales and has gone further in “The Body in Bedford Square.” Covers of detective novels, tneir name is legion, will be grateful to him for this truly enthralling mystery. ‘' MILLICENT ’ S CORNER, ’ ’ by George A. Birmingham (Metheun), pp. 283. A smart young woman with a flair for organising charity efforts, a coin-mon-soul’ed builder who aspired to become a Knight. An earl, an admiral, and a general comprise the main characters of this delightful story. There are the supporting characters for instance: Bruce, the half-brother of Millicent, who was as shrewd as he was garrulous; and Betty and Sue, the typists in the office of the Refugee Charity organisation. These two girls were philosophers in their own way and their point of view was always •entertaining, particularly when it was not profound. However, they were willing young souls and were prepared to discuss b.A. matrimony, or inflation. This information on the latter aubject was about equal to the man in the street m accuracy and in profundity. The plotting of one’s own murd-er, the leaving of a trail to be picked up by the police, and then the sudden return and the welcome given to the corpse by the innocent murderer are part of the fun of the fair. Not the least of tne merits of the book is the acid humour of the author who knows how to smile while handing one the vinegar of a healthy cynicism. •LADY GEORGY’S HOUSE,” by Cecily llallick (Methuen), pp. 278. This book may appropriately be railed a benediction in fiction, for from the first time that you catch a glimpse of the house in which the story is located tu the time of the last sacred rites being said over the body of the dead -Martha, the book is a good saying, a well speaking. Lady Georgy’s House was in Cornwall, four hours from the madding crowd of London, but it was centuries away in atmosphere and spiritually on another plane. How came it that people went to Lady .Georgy’s House, how came it that they felt the welcome of seme century old inn still permeating its atmosphere, how came it that the inmates who ministered there were given up to good works as a natural way of living, and not as a self-imposed mission? Men and women came and went, but they came bruised and they went away healed. Even the blinded airman forgot his loss of sight, the lady who aped Queen Elizabeth. in dress and medieval oaths, gave herself up to the organ and to the dispelling of the dancer Lorbinska came to a realisation of herself and expressed it in a delightful dance, and there the nian who was afraid of fire came eventually to look at it exultantly as a thing that he had conquered. The bitter woman with the child found a husband in tha charming young secretary, Gerald Thorby. But the dominant character is Grayll, the surgeon who lost the use of his hand and found a better knife in the use of his understanding to cut out bad ideas. His sister, Martha, who saw the man she loved go to another woman and who met her death when all seemed dependent upon her. Then at the back of them all was Lady Georgy herself. A frump she was in her garden clothes, but her heart was dressed ever in fine gold. And yet it could not be said when the book is finished whether it was that Lady Georgy permeated her house, or whether her house permeated her soul and through her to the others who were there. Did the spirit of dead monks,' who had so long since departed from that place, still live on and rule their ancient habitation? However, it came about, the spirit prevailed and they lived not for the faith nor by the faith but in the faith. This book Js slow in its power to grip its reader, but when it does so it cannot let go. Blessed be this benediction in fiction-