RECENT FICTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24415, 28 September 1940, Page 4

RECENT FICTION

Winter in Sussex The Sussex of Sheila Kaye-Smith is a pre-war Sussex, but it possesses a grimness of its own which the thud of bombs might almost relieve. Here is an experienced and gifted novelist whose rural tradition appears to lure her ever more deeply into the investigation of the seamy side of life, beneath the placid surface of a country that is described with rare understanding. The. central tragedy in the novel is the disintegration of Jess Marlott’s happiness in her erratic, moody ex-service-man husband, Greg, with whom she has striven for 20 years, with a chicken farm and, as it seems, a quiet old age as her reward. " Then an attractive widow, Mrs Light, moves to the vil-

lage. Greg is intrigued, and gossip plays its vicious part in the drama which follows. The author traces the development of the village tragedy with her usual skill and discernment. The numerous other characters, mostly of the younger generation, who have their part in the story are cleverly drawn, and react convincingly to the strong currents of emotion that are set in movement. And Lucinda, Mrs Light’s daughter who has the gift of second sight, takes with suitable prophetic gloom her place in the narrative. Ember Lane is a book which it might be difficult to criticise, but its characters are certainly not an easy company to get along with, even for 300 pages.

By Elizabeth Goudge In her new book the author of " Island Magic ” has written in her clear, fluent prose another story which defies analysis of what, for want of a more precise word, we call charm. The setting is the Hampshire coast, where the Eliots dwell in a beautiful house, “ Damerosehay,” which provides for all of them, from Lucilla, old and wise, to her youngest grandchild, sure refuge from a close-crowding world of affairs. Or so it seems, until David, Lucilla’s especial favourite, becomes engaged in a love affair that promises no happiness, but much pain both to himself and others. The tragedy of the sensitive, introspective, and essentially fine individual is a theme not infrequently studied by English novelists, and Elizabeth Goudge makes it as sympathetic an investigatic as any. There is much merit in this tale, its scene is reconstructed with much grace and skill, and the solution of David’s problem is artistically right. If it appears to have a lack, perhaps the deficiency lies with the mundane-minded reviewer or with circumstances which in the past year have tended to blunt the edge of appreciation for fine writing, Our copy cf The Bird in the Tree is from Whitcombe and Tombs.

“Let Me Breathe Thunder” It is minimum justice that the negro, who has been so painstakingly interpreted and misinterpreted by white authors, should turn author himself and write about whites. This Mr Attaway has done in a novel which.marks his as a name to be watched in the virile field of American contemporary letters. The story is nothing very much. It concerns the wanderings of two young social outcasts. Step and Ed, whose philosophy is that of the outlaw, be-

Ember Lane. By Sheila Kaye-Smith (Cassell). The Bird In the Tree. By Elizabeth Goudge (Duckworth). Let Me Breathe Thunder. By William Attaway (Hale). Mermaids Sleep Alone, By Winifred Agar (Joseph). Part-Time Mother. By Constance M. Evans (Mills and Boon). Green Lipstick. By George C. Foster (Jenkins). Each 8s 9d.

cause none other seems to fit their involuntary vagabond state. Hardbitten, cynical with an easy yet desperate cynicism, they are making their way across the States when they meet, and in a sense adopt, a little Mexican waif they first befriended, because he possessed a few dollars. Not too sentimentally. yet with words which play on the emotions as well as the mind, Mr Attaway shows the softening influence of their new responsibility upon the two youths. There is violence and bitterness, the usual “toughness" of American fiction of its type in this book, but the author succeeds, without labouring his point, in showing how environment can shape, and such a small thing as a homeless boy remould, the life of the individual. Our copy is from Whitcombe and Tombs.

The Author; William Attaway was born in a Mississippi town, the son of a doctor. After his father’s death the family settled in Chicago. Attaway attended the University of Illinois, but left in disgust when his dean refused to accept “a sociological novel as a substitute for prer scribed work.” After two years as a hobo he returned to take his degree, then did free-lance work in New York, while working in a succession of jobs “from salesman in a ladies’ dress shop to labour organiser.” Then he went on the stage, and was touring in “ You Can’t Take It With You” when this book was accepted for publication. An Economist in Trouble Henry Valliant is an economist with more skill at discussing other people’s monetary problems than meeting his own. A chance taunt from his wife sets him to trying his hand at a children’s tale. It succeeds. Fame comes to Valliant in a new and rich guise—or, rather, to Mary Manifold, which maidenly name he has chosen to conceal his real identity. Other startling manifestations follow. Mr Valliant, to his embarrassment, finds an uncontrollabe note of whimsy creeping into his writings as an economist, and Miss Manifold’s tales for the tots sometimes strike a cold, mathematical chord. Perhaps worse, Mr Valliant begins to take an unseemly pride and joy in his saccharine outpourings for the children, and while his wife suspects him of conducting a liaison with Miss Manifold he does indeed fall in love. The climax to this strange tale is_ entirely irresponsible, but that is fitting, for Mermaids Sleep Alone is an irresponsible book. It is also a very gay and amusing one. Rural Romances The evacuees and their impact upon rural English life are the theme of a slight, sentimental, and competent novel by Constance M. Evans, PartTime Mother. Miss Merlin is the owner of a seventeenth century farm, and Robin, her cousin, is, according to custom, owner of the stock. They are engaged, but not suitably, as the reader will quickly divine. Then Miss Merlin is given four schoolgirls to billet, one of whom, Judy, remains on the farm after the others have left. Judy’s com? ing makes a difference to the lives of both Robin and Miss Merlin, and the change in her own outlook —she is the daughter of a flighty, sophisticated mother—is not the least remarkable. We leave all the principal characters neatly paired off at the church door, much more satisfactorily than appeared possible when the story opened. '

Ex-Harrovian’s Frolics Mr Foster’s conscientious new farce, Green Lipstick, opens at Lord’s on a memorable day when Harrow succeeds in defeating Eton, and Sir Raffles Truffles, Secretary of State for the Home Department, so far forgets he cares of Whitehall as to join in the debagging of ex-Etonians. His venture is highly successful, and he emerges from the fray with several pairs of trousers. One pair, alas, belongs to an influential Opposition M.P. and another to the fire-eating uncle of the boisterous Sir Raffles. The ensuing complications, in which Sir Raffles is involved in a series of misadventures in which attractive young ladies have frequent appearances, are described with this author’s familiar fluency. V. V. L.