THE MULBERRY BUSH
HONOUR THE SHRINE, by Francis Clifford; Jonathan Cape. English price, 12/6. DRUM SINGERS, by Lau Shaw; Victor Gollancz. English _ price, 12/6.: THE EASTER PARTY, by 'V. Sackville West; Michael Joseph. English price, 10/6. THE HOUSE OF MOREYS, ‘by Phyllis Bentley; Victor Gollanéz. English price, 12/6. GOOD story of action in the British counter-attack in Burma in 1943, Honour the Shrine does not quite reach the pitch of emotional intensity its author se@ms to have designed for it when he introduced the Roman Catholic missionaries who suffer martyrdom ‘at the hands of the Japanese army. But the attempt deserves its own honour, especially as it is probably through the deliberate decision to keep everything at the level of quiet ‘surface realism that Francis Clifford has not done even better. One trembles to think of what Graham Greene would have. made of this theme. In Lau Shaw’s translated novel of a phase of modern Chinese life, social purpose is laid on with a trowel, but on the whole it is daubed on in the right places, China in transition is well depicted, with all the contrived picturesqueness of a Dame Laura Knight on a circus-painting jag. The Easter Party is the most artificial novel I have read in years. An Alsatian. dog is an important character, and onesof the few that bears some resemblance, among these impossibly highminded people, to real life. The book has at least the gift of surprise, simply because we don’t often meet up with. such artful creations, A further surprise is that its author is V. Sackville West. Strong trace elements of the Brontes contribute their’ well-tried sombre colours to what Phyllis Bentley modestly calls a romance. Rather too many things happen, and happen violently, on this Yorkshire upland 150 years ago for the reader of The House of Moreys to keep from constantly gasping for his taken breath. Romance-surely: Daphne du Maurier must look to her laurels.
David
Hall
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19530911.2.25.3
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 739, 11 September 1953, Page 13
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326THE MULBERRY BUSH New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 739, 11 September 1953, Page 13
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
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