Reviews.

“Lamb In His Bosom,” by Caroline Miller (Angus and Robertson, Sydney), was selected by the Pulitzer Prize Committee as the best novel published during the year by an American author. While I must confess that I have no great regard for American fiction I will say that Mrs. Miller's novel is an outstanding piece of work. She suffers though, from a prevailing complaint of modern novelists who appear to weigh up, smell and feel the human carcase as though they were in a butcher's shop with many varieties of humanity hung up for inspection. This description is rather harsh, but I hold that it is positively indecent the manner in which our writers “weigh up” the human form in this way. Mrs. Miller does her work with such a powerful and original realism though that the offence is not so serious. This story of a pioneer family in Georgia before the civil war, of their great love and devotion to themselves and their family, their fight with rugged Nature and more rugged passions, is a strangely thrilling one.

“Vulnerable,” by Dale Collins (The Macquarie Head Press, Sydney), has been published in an attractive Australian edition at 4/6. Dale Collins is one of Australia's greatest novelists. He always tells a fine story, and tells it well. He has that rare quality of holding his reader with the unbroken interest of his keen story-telling power.

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With wonderful craftsmanship he plays a human drama with cards. He is like a master fortune-teller dealing his fateful pieces of pasteboard to the various players and finally like a conjurer he pieces together the vast intricate pattern and deals the winning hand that brings happiness to two only in that big table. A great story.

“Happy Dispatches,” by A. B. Paterson (Angus and Robertson, Sydney), contains a series of recollections of famous people met during the crowded life of the author of “The Man From Snowy River.” We all know “Banjo's” faci'ity as a bush balladist and now we have him as a writer of reminiscences. He knows how to pitch a tale, does “Banjo,” and so you will turn over the pages of this book with eager interest to hear new stories of such famous people as Rudyard Kipling, Winston Churchill, Phil May, Marie Lloyd, and many other notabilities. Because he was a war correspondent in the Boer campaign and also played his part in the Great War, the author was very close to several military notabilities.

“The Peacock Feather,” by Leslie Moore (Angus and Robertson, Sydney) is a clean, delightful love story. Aptly described as “a neglected classic,” it was published in book form overseas some years ago, and is now available to New Zealand and Australian readers in a neat and cheap 4/6 edition. And— the author does not go prying into butchers' shops.

“Green Grey Homestead,” by Steele Rudd, has been published in a cheap, attractive paper-back edition by the Macquarie Head Press, Sydney. The well known Australian author has remained faithful to his old literary patch, and his style seems to have improved with the years. It is another rare story of country life in Australia with a glimpse into the hearts and minds of many interesting people.

“The Manchurian Arena,” by F. M. Cutlack (Angus and Robertson, Sydney), is an Australian view of the Far Eastern conflict. The author was recently special correspondent of the A.P.A. in the Far East, and has written other military books of note. It is a most interesting document on a subject of world wide, particularly Australian and New Zealand interest.

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