BOOKS REVIEWED,

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 67, 10 June 1927, Page 12

BOOKS REVIEWED,

BELLE OF BOHEMIA. BELLE was found under a dusty sunflower on the edge of the American prairie. As a young woman she ran away to go on the stage; her foster-father ran after her, because she could not be allowed away from home unmarried; so she picked out the handiest man, married him, said goodbye to him, bundled him and her foster-father off by the same train, and went on the stage. In New York she starved at first, then asked the handiest man to buy her a dinner. He did. Everybody bought her things. Teddy Roosevelt bought her a superb set of Haviland china. A Mr Rosa bought her a grand piano, but he was mad. Her absentee husband obliged her with a divorce, still more obligingly died and left her a fortune. Bhe went off the stage and to London. Everybody was very kind —Edna May, Horatio Bottomley, Lord Kitchener, Lord William Beresford, Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, and assorted millionaires. She bought a turquoise mine in the Sahara and wanted to inspect it; but Herbert Hoover* put obstacles in the way. He was a narrow-minded man and Belle Livingstone rightly pushed him into a cupboard with the mops and buckets. At one of Lord Beresford’s parties she told the Prince of Wales stories of the kind Abe Lincoln liked: he loved them. She lost all her money, travelled round the world on nothing, and married an Italian Count, at least not really, because there was a mistake. But he died and she married an eccentric millionaire, after entertaining Leopold, King of the Belgians, to lunch, but he was qjiite impossible. Her next husband was a perfect English gentleman, also impossible, who fled from her extravagance to the shelter of his sister’s house. Belle was down and out; but her father, who had left her under the sunflower, made amends by leaving her the money he had made in a gold-mine. His lawyers found her. And the real fun is coming, so Belle Livingstone promises, in Vol. 11. In the meantime Vol. I is amusing enough for us, and it can hardly miss being a huge popular success. “Belle of Bohemia.” The Memoirs of Belle Livingstone. John Hamilton,.

In" a New Setting. Just a few years ago, Mr W. Somer-i set Maugham, having made a visit tci the East, delighted the discriminating reading public with an alluring cclilection of sketches of life in China. In these sketches he etched in wards vignettes of many lives in that ancient land, every line revealing the insight; sensibility, and vigour of this versatile man of letters. To the collection, so rich in content, he gave a name which fitted perfectly, “On a Chinese Screen.” Now many more readers will enjoy this charming book, for it has just been republished in the excellent and inexpensive “Travellers’ Library.” “On a Chinese Screen.” W. Somerset Maugham. Jonathan Cape. A Girl in Business Sydney Hayward, with her sister, Frances, is left an orphan and heiress to a printing business. She runs the business up steep hills and down deep dales, and is beaten by circumstances But courage is her great virtue and she fights ill-health and misfortune, and the temporary loss of a lover, with equal calm. Unpleasant relatives and scandalising friends plague her. employees prove disloyal, all things go wrong, but she remains right. Then the lover returns and there is the usual ending. The reader will be but mildly pleased at this ending for our hero is a tame and painfully phlegmatic lover. In this story the character delineation is excellent. “Hayward’s Fight.” W. Pett Ridge. Methuen and Co., Ltd., London. Our copy direct from the publishers. A Lively Comedy John G. Brandon in “The JoyAFtide” presents a succession of lively doings which the reader will follow with amused interest. Joy, Ltd., might have proceeded on steady and rather staid lines if the elder Mr. Joy had not succumbed early in the story to a fishbone in the throat. But when his sons dispose of the business (a private inquiry agency, specialising in divorce) to a syndicate consisting of a gay Lord, a naval Commander, a “go-getting” American, and other equally irresponsible persons, the fun develops, The

agency handles some queer clients and havoc results. Incidentally, there is a love affair introduced, and like everything else connected with the story—except the actual writing—it runs anything but smoothly. You will enjoy it, with your toes before the fire, these winter nights. “The Joy Ride,” John G. Brandon. Methuen and Co.. Ltd.. London. Our copy direct from the publishers. A Hue and Cry It is all about the mystery of the Great Moghul Diamond, and Mally Lee —pretty girl, all love, tenderness and gaiety, yet so very timid, withal —has the theft of the jewel imputed to her. Mally makes a midnight escape from titled guardians and finds sanctuary from the hue and cry in a household wherein dwells the very nicest young man, who has rescued her from the snow. He has a warm heart this lad, and, after the mystery of the diamond is satisfactorily explained, the usual happy-ever-afterwards conclusion is provided by an obliging author. “Hue and Cry,” Patricia Wentworth. Hodder and Stoughton, London. Our copy direct from the publishers. Hints for the Housewife If vegetables are wrongly prepared and cooked, much valuable mineral matter may be lost. The vitamines may be destroyed in this manner, and vegetables rendered almost valueless as food. The new Blackmore vegetable cookery and meatless dishes book points the right path for the careful housewife. The correct method of preparing and cooking our everyday foods is a matter which affects the health of the whole household. More especially if there are children in the family. So, the hints contained in the new Blackmore book might well be followed with considerable profit to all concerned. It is an easy and safe guide in the planning of the daily meals, an occupation which entails not a little dexterity on the part of the good wife. She should welcome the little volume. “Vegetable Cookery and Meatless Dishes.” M. A. Blackmore. Our copy comes from the publishers, Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd., Auckland.