New Novels

1.%1E-PRODUCED fiction for the Christmas shopper is not yet 1,1 two conspicuous. From American consignments already to hand Z° samples may be taken as representing what it is thought will The in demand. Paul Horgan's tastefully illustrated offering, Saintmaker's Christmas Eve (Macmillan, 10s. 6d.), is, we thousands assured, a little book that will have a special meaning for s4.1(lusands of readers. 'It stands out,' continues the blurb, 'simply :Id sincerely as a signpost towards all that is most sympathetic

good in human nature.' Its 'special 'meaning' may be that

0,,e Possibility of material advantage accruing to the timely it'aetiser of benevolence should never be overlooked. At all events, Mexican out that the brothers Roberto and Carlos Castillo, New *'exican image-makers in this fake legend, have no reason to 41P1°re Roberto's miraculously inspired refusal to accept pay- elf for the St. Christopher he had carved for the people of

Crist6bal. His good deed brings in orders for six new

ristophers at twelve royal apiece: 'More money than we've half in five years,' excliims Carlos. We are left to infer that r a guinea spent on this book as a gift for a carefully selected ,,,rs,°11 may be a good investment. If read before being given away itil,'11 Yield some pleasure. A snowstorm is provided for Roberto ch", his burro to be lost in, and a scene in a humble church on toIsltuas Eve, with small boys doing bird-imitations, may be 4,111 quite touching. 1.1:'oward Streeter's Merry Christmas, Mr. Baxter (Hamish 1%,,,nlilton, 13s. 6d.) is American sentimental humour at its "Leliest. 'As the Madison Avenue bus approached Seventy- reeneesth Street'—with such a beginning we know where we are, and wit,"grlise Mr. Baxter as the reasonably successful businessman 4," grown-up children all busy increasing the number of his 4.1)(Ichildren. (Polly was violently pregnant, and spent a large to kt of her time throwing up.') In the Fall, with Thanksgiving still

"a got through, he plans for Christmas. This time he will do it on a budget. His wife is not co-operative. Fun of the standard- ised kind is extracted from his easily imaginable embarrassments as Christmas draws near; and, his heart of gold being in the right place, he can agree with his wife's conclusion: 'Christmas is a day when our own points of view don't count for much. It's a day for identifying ourselves with the points of view of others.' English Mr. Baxters should enjoy this strictly moral tale.

Under its influence• a humorous English book can be recom- mended: Wiggery Pokery, by Hastings Draper (Allen, 12s. 6d.)—

a frolic of judges, barristers and clients for the ultimate benefit of a regulation young couple, Alan and Belinda. Its ending is so happy that it ought to have occurred in Christmas week, but so contrived that a reader here and there may echo a remark of Alan's: "'Well, I'll be . . ." When he had finally grasped the facts, he used a popular expression, the execution of which was good for two years.'

No novel of today is less humorous than Bedlam, by Andre Soubiran (Allen, 15s.)—the story of ,a sane man in a French lunatic asylum. As an exposure of the conditions in such places it is no doubt effective, but the man about whom we are invited to feel concerned gets too often lost in the crowd of his un-

fortunate companions, whose habits are matter for the student of abnormal psychology rather than for the ordinary reader. Of course, for people who like this sort of thing this may be • the perfect Christmas present. No unmentionable perversity or aberra- tion is left unmentioned.

With still thirty reading days to Christmas we can afford to forget it while considering Roy Fuller's new novel, IMage

of a Society (Deutsch, 13s. 6d.). The society of the slightly for- bidding title proves to be a Building Society, and out of such unpromising materials • as its affairs and the private lives of its officials a story of exceptional interest has been fabricated with other aims than our delight. House Manager, Premises Manager, Establishment Manager, Mortgage Manager, Accounts Manager, General Manager, Chairman, Solicitor, etc., with attendant wives or dependants, gradually sort themselves out and take on the shape and substance of human beings, falling ill, making love, running risks, gaining promotiono.losing heart, committing ' (perhaps) suicide. The lid has been lifted off Saddleford House : we peer inside but never quite get inside. Probably we are not meant to.

If we concentrated on individuals we might let the author down by failing to see the Building Society as a unit in a larger society, with all the sociological significance that such 'a view may entail. James Kinross's The Pike in the Reeds (Murray, 16s.) has the German people for its theme. The questions it raises must remain unanswered. They are peremptorily presented to Brian Waugh, who, treated decently by his parachuted captors in Crete and with kindness when in hospital, cannot helieve that most Germans are not at least as 'good' as the British. Serving in Germany after the war, he is slow to be persuaded that his sympathy is misplaced. It takes a violent climax to shake his convictions.

Gabrielle Roy is again at home in Montreal for The Cashier (Heinemann, 15s.) and again writes with tenderness of the deserv- ing obscure. This time it is of a cashier in a bank, a man of fifty- two, whose health is breaking down (internal trouble) and whose mind is overburdened by global cares (too much press and radio).

He is becoming too much of a misery for the most kind-hearted of readers when the story tapes a turn for the better. The poor man has a solitary vacation in a trapper's but and is introduced to the Beauties of Nature. Misfortune catches up with him again, but in hospital he is gratified by the number of his visitors.

Of Ernest Gann's fine novel of the sea—Twilight for the Gods (Hodder and Stoughton, 15s.)—nobody, old sea-dog or land- lubber, should complain. There's not too much sea in it; none of those storms with obsolete technical terms flying about; and we are never becalmed in a Sargasso of beautiful prose. The captain, the crew and the passengers come first, all picked with care for the parts they have so unexpectedly to play.

Last-minute surprise—a piece of science fiction , for adults; literate, perfectly plausible, love-interested, space-timed, witty, thrilling, hopeful; no Martians; a find: Further Outlook, by W.

Grey Walter (Duckworth, 12s. 6d.) DANIEL GEORGE