NEW BOOKS

Evening Star, Issue 23379, 23 September 1939, Page 17

NEW BOOKS

DOWN THE BACK STAIRS MONICA DICKENS REVIEWS LIFE FROM THE KITCHEN. Alter the spate of advance publicity that heralded the appearance of a book by the great-granddaughter of Charles Pickens, the first impression given by * One Pair of Hands ’ is one of disappointment. That impression is not sustained, however, when one delves more deeply amongst its pages. Monica Dickens has written a lively autobiographical sketch in a satisfying manlier; and her chatty description of life below stairs is in the family tradition, written with a penetrating insight into character, and a dry humour. Most people will be aware that Miss Dickens gave up a comfortable though monotonous home life to undertake that 1 of the domestic servant. She spent an adventurous year in situations which to the ordinary mind would promise nothing but boredom. She manages very successfully to make her life as interesting to her public as it must have been to herself. That the book is without depth may be attributable to its subject matter, or perhaps to the fact that the author has not yet left adolescence far behind. The publishers, Messrs Michael Joseph Ltd., claim that the work is “ an illuminating and valuable commentary on one of the''most vexed social problems of our time.” That is doubtful. Mies Dicikens sheds no new light on conditions of “ service,” but she has brought the problem to the attention of many who would not otherwise be interested. It is related that when Charles Dickens wrote ‘ Nicholas Nickleby ’ not one, but many Yorkshire schoolmasters recognised themselves as the villain of the piece. This book of Miss Dickens’s will in a like manner cause many misgivings to arise in the middle-class homes of England; and, in fact, many in Dunedin will perceive a likeness between subsidiary characters, and people of their own acquaintance. To the book-lover no further eulogy should be necessary. Our copy is from Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs. • GERMANY'S WAR CHANGES’ In our leading columns and also in our news columns we have referred more than once to a book which produced a sensation in Europe a few weeks before the war began, ‘ Germany’s War Chances, As Pictured in German Official Literature.’ It is the work of Dr Ivan Lajos, assistant professor of constitutional law at the University of Pecs, Hungary, and secretary to the Inspectorate of Public Instruction. German pressure caused it to be officially banned in Hungary, but not till in a single week, 30,000 Hungarians had bought it. Dr Lajos for fifty year earlier bad been a student of the diplomatic history of the World War and what preceded it and followed it. His belief , that Germany would have a very poor chance of success in a new war is based on a variety of considerations, as set forth in official German sources, the range of which may be gathered from his chapter headings. They are ‘ German Plans,’ 1 The Lichtninp War ’ (which ho believes is unlikely to be practicable). ‘ Food,’ • Armaments Industries,’ ‘ Oil,’ ‘ Other Raw Materials,’ ‘ Finance,’ 1 What Brinkmann said in Cologne,’ ‘America.’ and ‘ The German People.’ The book, though a small one, is not easy reading, being dependent on a consideration of all sorts of statistics, but it is worth study by everyone, and from the Allies’ point of view most heartening. Ft bears no signs of being merely the_ production of “ wishful thinking.”—Victor Gollancz Ltd, Publishers, London. MACHINE-GUN FUN ‘Rapid Fire,’ by that well-known humorous writer, Joan Butler, provides just what the announcement on the jacket promises—one long laugh. It is the laugh, however, which is aroused by sheer burlesque, by comical exaggerations. for Joan Butler’s characters are impossible in every way ; but they are highly amusing and the fun is fired at one as from a machine gun. So that the title of the book is eminently appropriate. What is it all about? Well, a good deal of the action revolves around one Archibald (Wonkers) Hunt and a machine gun which he suspects everyone of attempting to steal. Miss Nina Delamere, a noted film star, and her three divorced husbands form another vortex of fun, largely composed of Americanisms, while Jill Denver (nurse-governess to Miss Delamere’s bright young daughter, around whom, by the wav. develops a diverting kidnapping “stunt”). Uncle Charles (the mild but unscrupulous relative of Wonkers aforesaid), and Wonkers himself form a comparatively restful but by no means quiescent foil to the fast-work-ino’. impetuous, and decidedly slick folk from the U.S.A. A sparkling book, calculated to make one forget for the time being that there is such a thing as war. Our copy is from Hyndman a Ltd.. Dunedin. MYSTERY OF A CASTLE When Clive Goodchild and Bill Revel arrange to take Lance Bertram on a fishing expedition to the tiny European country of Zovania they little _ realise they are walking into a startling adventure in which all three are to come within an ace of losing their lives. It all happens because a gang of ruthless crooks is determined to convert to its own ends a deposit of radium lying in the grounds of a castle which is guarded hv a skeleton that walks at night! Of course, the crooks arc toiled at the ninety-ninth hour, and the party of Englishmen emerge triumphant (Trance with the heroine in his arms), hut Hal Pink makes them face a hundred

and one remarkable situations before the end comes in his latest thriller, ‘ The Strelsen Castle Mystery.’ Messrs Hutchinson and Co, are the publishers of Mr Pink’s book, which comes to us through Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd. LOGICAL THRILLER The disappearance of Jack Bradbury, a guest at Sunnylands Holiday Camp, is a perplexing affair which becomes even more bewildering when Bradbury’s body is discovered in a bog. Detectiveinspector Ghent and Detective-sergeant Dean, of Scotland Yard, are detailed to solve the apparently motiveless mystery, which is propounded by Basil Francis in ‘ The'.Holiday Camp Murder.' Mr Francis has conceived an unusually feasible crime story, and be has handled his material with skill. The identity of the murderer is well hidden, and the reader (although he should) is not likely to get in ahead of the Scotland Yard men. The workings of a large holiday camp—of the type which has become increasingly popular in England —arid a lesser background of finance are interestingly set down, and a knowledge of these subjects is shown. ‘The Holiday Camp Murder,’ which is published by'Constable and comes to us through Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd., is much ahead of the average thriller.