Historical Novel

Wanganui Chronicle, 23 May 1949, Page 7

Historical Novel

ABKAN, SON OF TERAH, By F. M. Bauer (Dymocks). Abraham, to give him his full name, is one of the giants olthe religious world. He is widely respected by the adherents of three great religions— Christianity, Judaism and Islam. He is the father of the Hebrew nation. At the call of God he left Ur of the Chaldees and went out with his family to find a new land wherein he might worship God. With Abraham we reach known history in the Bible. The names of certain kings in the boon, of Genesis agree with some on the ancient monuments. Thus we can place Abraham at 2000 BC. The spade of the archaeologist and the learning of the scholar have given us a good deal of information about the ancient Sumerian city—Ur of the Chaldees. There is thus abundant material for a novel on the period. Abram is shown as a youth in a home that is torn by dissension. The various wives of Terah and his sons are always quarrelling, when they are not. the slaves of his mother art at loggerheads. Abram, himseli, is partly ignored and partly bullied b> his cold-hearted mother, Amtiia. One of the earliest scenes in the book is that of young Abram being flogged by her. He is cared for by a concuome oi his father and from her he receives almost the only kindness he knew in childhood. Of his two older brothers, one is away in the service of the King and the other, also in the King’s service, dominates the growing lad. In this strained atmosphere young Abram develops a stutter in his speech. This, in the half learning of the time, is attributed to demon possession.

This shy, grey-eyed boy has his eyes opened roughly to the cruder facts of liie while away on a trading journey. His mother's death as a result of a trial in which ordeal by water was used opens his eyes to the cupidity of the priests and the uselessness of the religion of his day. A slave, first encountered in a hired shijf and later bought by Abram, opens his eyes to the glory of the true God, Yah or Jehovah. The religious element does not, however, dominate the story, ino reader need be put off by fear that this is a religious novel. It is a novel about a religious figure. The background is larger than any temple, it is a background in which trade, service of the King, domestic strife, the loves of men and women, and the bitter vow of vengeance of a slighted merchant are ail pictured. To that extent the novel may be called sue- 1 cessful. It does succeed in giving a picture of the times in which a boy like Abram might have grown to manhood. Where it fails, in the judgment of this reviewer, is in the drawing of Abram himself. Abram is overshadowed by some of the other char-

acters in the story. The reader finds himself wondering whether the villain will accomplish his terrible vow to wipe out the whole house of Terah or whether the tyrannous crippled wife will be overthrown. It is difficult at any part of the story to see in this sketch of Abram the figure of the one who has made such a mark on the three dominant religions of the world. Is a shy stammering boy frightened of shadows the sort who will grow into a pioneer, daring to defy the religious leaders of his day? Perhaps Mrs Bauer had her eye on the lie. Abraham tolj Pharaoh or on the

quiet way in which he let Lot take the best part of the country and went peacefully into another and less prosperous part. After all, there is a strange mixture in the life of Abraham as portrayed in the Bible and this novel does succeed in bringing that out. It may not be a great historical novel but that is not to say readers will not have a clear idea of the times of Abram, Son of Terah, after reading this book. —(N.R.W.).