BOOK NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 46, 22 January 1938, Page 16

BOOK NOTES

“AMERICAN DREAM.” “American Dream,” by Michael Foster, opens in the present with Shelby Thrall, a newspaper man, resigning his post in New York to buy a print-shop and newspaper in a small coastal backwater. In the early chapters one sees little of Shelby and his wife, Julie; by a series of time-shifts the author takes us back to the 1840’s, when Jean Thrall, ex-opium clipper captain running to escape a charge of high treason, came to Boston. Here this founder of the American branch of the Thrall family operates a fleet of schooners, weds one of the Boston Parkers and disappears, in scandalous circumstances, on a voyage to the South Seas. He never returns. Of the two Parker boys, one is drowned at sea, another killed in the "West in a battle with Sioux Indians.

John Thrall, son of Jean and Mary Parker, grows up an idealist, willing to stand against the full strength of public opinion in defence of his principles. He stands in the book as the finest type' of intelligent liberal ; courageous, gifted, and undefeatable. It is from these Thralls and these Parkers that Shelby is sprung. It is from such men that, according to Mr Foster’s idea, all the best of American citizens have sprung. But the ideals for which those pioneers stood, the principles for which they struggled and died, have been overlaid. It is for the younger generation, as exemplified in Shelby Thrall, to lift aloft the still smouldering torch, fan ir with their own young breath, and carry it onward in triumphant flame. Mr Foster’s greatest achievement lies in the fact that he has managed to convey this message without in any way cluttering up the action or spoiling the entertainment value of his novel. He has written a splendid story which holds the reader from page to Dago.

CONFLICTING AMBITIONS. That a woman, even a married, woman', should nourish ambitions to “do things,” carve a career for herself, is, in these modern days, no longer considered outrageous, or even extraordinary. But for a woman, happily married and still in love with her husband, to fall victim to an itch to make her own way, and to leave her beloved husband high and dry while she does it—this is something quite different. Emma, tho central figure of Louis Paul’s new novel, does just this. A queer combination of idealism and shrewd common sense, Emma leaves husband Bill after some rather boring soul searching, and embarks upon the hazardous business of making her own way in the world. She chooses the early years of the depression as the time for her adventure.

Disillusionment, cruelty, fear, poverty, weariness and, finally, triumph fall to her lot. She starves, hands out samples, works in a textile factory and launches a Hugh restaurant enterprise. She comes nea.r losing the husband she loves, but finally wins him back. All this makes an interesting enough stoi'y. and this is a great deal. But Mr Paul is not yet among those writers who can combine good entertainment with craftsmanship of equal value. His characterisation is uneven. Emma is consistently fairly good throughout. Bill, the husband, however, exists as a very limited successful business man only to re-enter as a philosopher with quite a range of ideas and astonishing ability to express them —the result of out-of-work meditations, no doubt. Jean, a lady of the town rescued by Emma, is thoroughly unconvincing. Towards the end the book begins to creak badly at the joints. Mr Paul intends to get a happy ending despite hell and high water. He gets it. Whether, having been achieved, it. will satisfy even the mildly critical, is another matter."' (“Emma,” by Louis Paul.)

FUN AT THE BAR. It is difficult to imagine anybody failing to be amused ana interested by '‘ Witu You, Mr Hilary,” by Mr Frederick Oswald; it is almost impossible to imagine members of the legal profession, if only out of their familiarity with the things of which Mr Oswald deals, not being stirred to reminiscent laughter. Frederick Oswald has set out to show the progress of a young man who enters the story at the very beginning of his career as a barrister, and who, at its close, lias just passed that invisible boundary which divides the struggling unknown from the future “eminent counsel.” In between these two interesting states, the author has contrived to introduce quite a lot in the way of suspense, interest, thwarted (if very off-hand and modern) romance, and back-stage legal colour. John Hilary, the hero of the tale, begins his career as any half-baked newcomer to the Bar usually begins. Full of merit, even of genius, he may be, but it is neither his merit nor his genius which brings to him the opportunities he craves. Rather, although for quite a time he does not realise it, it is his unconscious appeal to ladies of influence, old and young, that leads to his preferment.

Mr Oswald, obviously knows at first hand the road followed by his hero. Likeable Mr Hilary achieves some successes, and, just as his head seems to be getting out of proportion to the rest of his anatomy, meets with some dismal set-backs. He rallies, how'ever, and, .at the end of the book, is left in legal glory and well on the way towards a thoroughly satisfactory matrimony. AJI this is told in a dryly humorous style that is extremely diverting. SPYING IN SPAIN. Francis Beeding can usually be depended upon for a good Secret Service yarn. If the motivation of his characters is weak on occasion, he makes up for it with lashings of action; it is a poor Beeding effort which does not have its hero facing almost certaiii extinction at least half a dozen times during the course of the story. “Hell Let Loose” is a typical Francis-Beeding novel, with just one slight difference from its predecessors. The author stages his action in contemporary Spain, and allows himself to do a little philosophising on the respective demerits of Fascism and Communism as compared to the spacious liberty guaranteed under Democracy. So far as the Spanish imbroglio itself is concerned, hp seems definitely to be pro-Government. Happily for those whose demand is “Beeding for Adventure,” his political musings are not allowed to hold up the story. A British agent and his French opposite number, in combination with a beautiful Spaniard, find themselves up against the German and Italian secret services when they endeavour to obtain for France and Britain a camera-televi-sion device, just invented, which is of great wartime importance. Both the Spanish rebels and the Spanish Government are unaware of the existence of this invention, although it is hard to say whether cr not this complicates or eases the situation. The major point is that, after much combat, chicanery, iisguising, murder and general dou-ble-dealing, Britain gets the secret.

So far a 6 can ,be gathered, France shares in it, but France, as represented by du Barlet, seems much more interested in the lovely Spaniard, Inez.