KNIGHTS IN OTHER DAYS
LEOPARDS AND LILIES, by Alfred Duggan; Faber and. Faber, English price 12/6. ") HE author has been highly praised in the best circles for his convincing historical reconstructions, but I do not share in the general admiration. The chink in his armour, in my opinion, is that Mr, Duggan reconstructs history without constructing a novel. Every spot is meticulously painted on the Leopard, but the damned thing doesn’t come alive, "Leopards" and "Lilies" are the banners of two great houses, in the days of King John. The action is set against recurring civil wars. The plot concerns a young girl. given in marriage by her father, the King’s Chamberlain, to a mercenary captain. He (belying the jacket blurb, which solicits sympathy for the girl) is honourable and able; and the action seen through his eyes would have been interesting. She (apperently against the author’s intention) is a young strumpet, incapable of arous-, ing sympathy or interest, because her character isn’t sufficiently defined to (continued on next page)
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(continued from previous page) make any of her actions seem other than capricious. What is left is a melodrama, in spite of scholarly décor.
A.
V.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 794, 8 October 1954, Page 13
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198KNIGHTS IN OTHER DAYS New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 794, 8 October 1954, Page 13
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