Fiction

BY L. A. G. STRONG.

The Case is Altered. By William Plomer. (Hogarth Press. 7s. 6d.) _ The Offing. By Edmond Vale. (Dent. 7s. 6d.) Ma. WALPOLE has said that Mr. William Plomer possesses " unquestioned genius." There is solid evidence, in The Case is Altered, that he is right. Though not a faultless book, it is unusually satisfying, and the light it sheds upon its author reveals a number of first-class assets. Mr. Plomer's chief virtues are his common sense and his sane, candid view of reality. His interests are wide : he gives his characters fair treatment, being as vitally interested in a normal elderly spinster as in a man deluded into cutting his wife's throat : recording with equal blandness the facts

about a child with the beginnings of perversion, a waiter whose dream is to start a little restaurant on his own, and a young woman who, being dissatisfied with her husband, naively invites another gentleman to take his place. Beyond all this, Mr. Plomer has a philosophy of life, and sufficient confidence in himself to write naturally and without attempt at ornament. Solid, unusual virtues all of them, which, combined with a quick, almost innocent awareness of human significance, go far enough to justify Mr. Walpole's claim.

The mechanism of the book is simple. Mrs. Fernandez, fired by the initiative and aided by the money of her friend Mrs. Gambitt, starts a lodging house :

" Such, then, was the general position at 45 Cambodia Crescent soon after its opening. That fairly large and untidy looking house was expected to provide employment and prospects for Albert Empringham, a living for the decaying Fernandez, his wife and daughter ; it was expected to enable Mrs. Gambitt to keep her dignity, to house Mrs. Peterham-Porter and Mr. and Mrs. Rudd in some degree of comfort, and prospectively a number of other people besides. How far the house responded to the demands put upon it will be made plain in the succeeding chapters."

Mr. Plower makes it very plain. Miss Brixworth arrives to befriend Rosy, Empringliam gives place to Carol, the Indian arrives, there, are " see-antses " ; hints are dropped,

plots thicken; the jealous Fernandez draws nearer and nearer to his tragic act : and the double bed which Mr. Alston so harmlesslyiritroducei-brings on the climax. It is pleasant to know that the Book Society's choice assures wide circula- tion for so excellent a book. Mr. Plomer's hits outnumber his misses by-ten to One, and the misses are all due to relative inexperience: • It was,- I -am convinced, a mistake--to Make Miss Haymer the mouthpiece of so many of Mt. Plcirner's own private views. She is a very remarkable lady—very remarkable indeed, and his description of her shows real virtuosity : but I cannot believe (for instance) that the

brilliant comparison: of cinema to church ever entered her head. There is no need for such a mouthpiece, either, since Mr. Plomer is as ready as was Thackeray to step forward and explound his views to us—and does it a deal more accept- ably. Then again, a little more practice would have enabled him to make fuller use of the Mrs. Rudd episode, and to connect Willy Pascall more firmly with the story : but these are all tiny points, of no importance in a book of such quality.

Mr. Ronald Frazer's work is done upon a smaller canvas, with meticulous attention to detail, no little ornament, and great delicacy of perception. A fastidious artist, he has given us one of the most convincing portraits of an artist in modern fiction. With Adrian, maker of stained glass windows, he cannot go wrong : and his story keeps without

effort its individual and elusive atmosphere. -

" She lingered over the tomb of Agnes Sorel. They stood looking at the effigy with their arms round each other. -

sympathy with women who were mistresses,' she said. Presently she added : All the best women were.' I wish you and I could lie side by side on a tomb in some old church,' Adrian said. ' It would be marvellously peaceful to be united for ever in that way.' ' I'd want to be able to turn to you sometimes,' she said. He smiled. We would be surrounded, perhaps, by windows of mine ; landscapes on either side, with the light in them that I've caught from your spirit ; and our faces towards heaven and thronging angels, and Almighty God looking far beyond us. . . .' They were silent, thinking of the great universe and their love."

Most of the book's themes are here, and Mr. Frazer develops them in a way to gladden the sensitive heart. The one thing that puzzles me is his attitude to Linet, Adrian's love. Is it

possible that he does not see what an odious, selfish little beast she is ? The best that can be said of her is that, when

she has been a beast, she is sorry afterwards : though even

then she blames her womanhood rather than herself. She is jealous of Adrian's art : i.e., she wants him to cease being himself in order to be more completely hers. She turns up unexpectedly, and is coldly furious when he mentions appoint- ments made days before. She resents her passion for him, because she has never previously given a thought to anyone but herself, and hates having to do so now. In short, a selfish, moody; captious little baggage, born to make a fool of a man worth ten of_ her. That the marriage ultimately enriches Adrian's nature, and enables him to do even better

work, is due to Adrian rather than to Linet. To call such a marriage heavenly argues either cynicism or an extra- ordinarily mature perception on Mr. Frazer's part—I cannot

be sure which. any case, it does- not matter, - He has given us the essential .clash of eharactet With -delicate insight and high distinction , of -phrase. : Too : much .: distinction,

perhaps : for the story is in places under-vitalized,. does not sufficiently carry him-aWay with it, and leaves him ton much

leisure for ornament. In writing as in riding, style often shows to best advantage when the horse runs away.., When all is said and done, Marriage in Heaven is book to be thankful for, and I personally am the better for having

read it. •

M. Maurois draws --the-- portrait- of another-selfish girl--1 though Denise had better eXer-use, in-her -narrow 'Norman

home and conventionariiPiiiigint. She belongs to that

numerous family who desire " the security of marriage and the freedoin. of celibacy." This pursuit carries her thiough numerous love , experiences, till in the -end -'the threat of financial disaiter unites her to 'Edinond and generally brings her to her senses. M: Mauroii disSectS withhis accustomed skill and a little less than his accustomed' kunionr. Family Circle is somewhat patchy; but the bright patches are brilliant, and the bookis deeply interesting, not least from its unlike- ness to any English novel upon. the same Subject. Mr. Hamish Miles' translation is excellent.

Mr. Barrett, who also deals -the -selfish- woman theme,

_ has chosen a woman a good deal older and far less attractive.

His self-Willed lady, like ,111r. -Ploiner's .1.fayiner, is a

little too flamboyant to be true. He writes vigorously : the amusing chapters of Madam - are very amusing indeed, the satire rather less successful.

Mr. Edmerid Vale 'has 7theniakings'Ora very good novelist, but The Offing -is iciinnkable- rather for the - quality of its

descriptive passages than Tor sustained achieVement. Such

passages are the account of the wreck,-and the less sensational but even more successful - gathering . of the - sheep. The Doctor is a good character, and the evening when he sits making friends with Philip gives, with the passages mentioned, the- measure - of Mi. Vale's quality. Morwyn, on the other hand, is sentimentalized, and-there is too much of this sort

of thing _oil the debit side -

" But Dr: Cannon's dislike of "Esme was quite unfair.' It just came from associating him with • Mrs.' Sengale: And that was quite an accident ! She,' herself; was the one with a real cause for grievance, because he had played this trick on her. But then —.! Independence must be'a sweet thing. Real independence like men had. It was something she had never been anywhere near to getting. The figure . of Sarah Bachael .stenuning rain and wind to pick driftwood came to .her. The dreariness, the implacability Of spirit behind the quest ! -'There -Was -Something about such thoughts that clashed with the atmosphere of the cabin-like sacrilege. A knock on the door."

The Offing is very uneven, but its author may safely be judged on his best passages rather than on his worst.