FICTION
THE DAMAGED ANGEL
The Big House of Inver. By E. CE. Somerville and Martin Ross. (Heinemann. 7s. 6d. net.)
IT is a relief and a joy to read this novel ; for in it we have the good old tradition of generosity in. characterization and invention. Three pages of it would easily expand to three hundred in the hands of our typical modern novelists. It is true that at first we feel alarmed. We are being led through the history of the Prenderville family in Ireland. We become acquainted with the weakness of character, the lack of principle, and the tendency to dissipation that members of the family so often displayed—the kind of weakness which is forgiven over and over again for the sake of an open coun- tenance and engaging manners. We see, too, the occasions on which their fortunes are, for the moment, retrieved by the access of new blood ; by marriage or by the loyalty of servants. And we begin to fear (although the wit of the presentation keeps us interested) that this will be another of those histories, or sagas, which need a map, a genealogical table, and a forty- page index for their elucidation.
But our fear is soon put at rest. The history is run through briefly ; and for the rest we are concerned with a reasonably short space of time. Particularly it is of the youngest genera- tion of all that we hear ; of Kit Prenderville, who has the old attractiveness and the old weakness as strongly marked as any Prenderville has had them. The tale is tragic enough ; for once the roughnesses in love's way arc not smoothed out in the end ; for once the heir does not marry the heiress and come back reformed, and triumphant, to the old house. But the keen and wicked satire at the poor, stiff English villain of the piece, the knowledge of Irish characters and Irish speech, and, above all, the stern and energetic self-sacrifice of Miss Pindy," who is not quite one of the Prendervilles, but gives herself body and soul to their service—all these give a fullness to the book that is nowadays unusual.
The " Author's Note " at the beginning of the book reads as follows :-
" An established Firm does not change its style and title when, for any reason, one of its partners may be compelled to leave it. The partner who shared all things with me has left me, but the Firm has not yet put up the shutters, and I feel I am justified in permitting myself the pleasure of still linking the name of Martin ,Ross with that of E. CE. SOMERVILLE."
We may assure readers that the Firm bears up bravely.
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