VARIOUS LOVERS
THE PARADISE GARDEN, by Michael Swan; Hamish Hamilton, English price 10/6. GABRIELLE, by Christine Bruckner; Robert Hale, English price -10/6. NO MAN SINGS, by Alexander Krislov; Longmans, English price 13/6. YOUR DAUGHTER IRIS, by Jerome Weidman; Jonathan Cape, English. price 15/-. ‘THis is an odd assortment of novels. Mr. Swan writes of the awful problem of a frigid Englishwoman who marries. an Anglo-Italian. The _halfItalian relieves his frustration with 4a blowzy American, the unhappy Englishwoman commits suicide, thus bringing a mediocre book to an end. Gabrielle is Christine Bruckner’s first novel. It concerns a respectable German business man who accidentally kills a young woman and feels impelled to become her executor. He is strongly attracted to her personality by his. contact with her possessions, and the mystery surrounding them, and he sets out to discover the story of her life. In doing so he falls in love with her. It is a clever idea, and well developed; but there is a quality which suggests rather heavy going which, however, may be an imperfection of the translation. After all, "bust-supporter" for "brassiere" does not help. Most of us recall that Sappho sang in the Isles of Greece, but if we are honest, we must say that we know little indeed about her life and her poetry. Alexander Krisloy has compounded the few facts and many legends into a credible life story, aided by a capable imagination. One is reminced of* Robert Graves, and by. comparisén Mr. Krislov does not fare too badly. He writes well, and deals with the hazardous subject of Sappho’s sexual inversion with skill, managing to preserve the usual idea that Sappho’s loves -were not impure, although abnormal. Your Daughter Iris is an amusing account of the experiences of the Brook-lyn-bred wife of an American doctor during a stay in England. The plot, which hinges on a matter of temporary infidelity and amorous intrigue, is unashamedly improbable; but the humour of various situations and _ Iris’s comments (her letters to "Ma" tell the story} on the English scene are worth reading. "Tunbridge Wells," she writes, "is a sort of bush-league White Sulphur
Springs."
Edmond
Malone
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 892, 7 September 1956, Page 15
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358VARIOUS LOVERS New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 892, 7 September 1956, Page 15
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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.
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