The New Zealand Novel 1860-1965
Sequel
Sequel. Nor the Years Condemn, the sequel, is much less successful. It is an attempt to present the boom-and-bust period which followed the war, as well as to tell Starkie's later story. But Robin Hyde's grip has relaxed; the book is dull, and written in a style which varies unpredictably between the pedestrian and the fantastic. This liability to exasperating mannerisms remained one of her gravest stylistic defects. The content of this novel has not been realised in her imagination; it remains, as it were, on the level of news. She has not been able to shape the raw material to her intention.