A NOVELIST RETURNS

Hokitika Guardian, 23 December 1932, Page 8

A NOVELIST RETURNS

ROSEMARY REE£

WRITING A BOOK A YEAR

A novel a year for .the last eight years is the writing record of Miss Rosemary Rees, a New Zealand-born author, who arrived in Wellington from England by the lonic this week. Miss ltecii spoke to- the paper representative mostly of the writing and stage work she ha® been doing in London and New York in recent years. Her new novel, “Local Colour,” in which the background is England, will be published next month. At the moment she is busy writing another.

What began Miss Rees’ career as an author was, in effect, the poor supp'V't that was given 'by people in New Zealand country towns to her theatrical company which appeared in Wellington about 10 years ago. In the miain centres the company did well, but in the country townis it did not meet with the same success. “I struck a. slump.,” Miss Rees said, “and I lost a whole lot of mony and had to do something else. I went over to (Sydney and could not get a theatrical job straight away. So 1 sat down and wro'e a novel— “April’s Sowing.” Short stories I had written before, hut this was my first attempt at a novel. At all events it was sent off, and was taken. I had a great thrill in Melbourne when 1 was at a dress rehearsal and someone handed me a telegram. T opened it and read : ‘Novel accepted.’ ” After that, said Miss Bees, she wrt*e two more novels, and then went back to England, where s ho has written one a year ever since. Three of her New Zealand novels were published first as serials iu the London Evening Standard It was a pnpe r which, printed Arnold Bennett, Shiela Kaye-Smith, and Hugh Walpole, so she had fe.lt herself in good company. In New York, islfe saidther work had also been published, and she bad appeared in a. talkie in 'which < Olive Brook was the star. “But I had only a small part,” she said.

Miss Riees intends to be a wav from England for lb mow’bs or so. She wi’l s.moikl the greater part of her time in New Zealand at Gisborne.