New Novels THE DARK STAR. Bv MARCH COST. Collins. 8s. 6d. UNCLE FRED IN THE SPRINGTIME. By P. G. WODEHOUSE. Jenkins. 7s. 6d. THE ELEPHANr IS WHITE. Bv CARYL BRAHMS and S. J. SIMON. Joseph. 7s. 6d. Miss March Cost's new book repayS some study. Its qualities are obvious ; so are its defects; and not less obvious is the fact that these are the qualities and the defects of a whole school of modern writing. It is a school with catholic in- terests: it gives the same enthusiasticatten- tion to the affairs of the genius and those of the suburban housewife, both interest- ing subjects. It is also an emotional school, dealing with emotions recollected in anything but tranquillity, and it teaches a highly flamboyant manner. Whether it adds anything to English literature is outside our commission. THE DARK STAR tells the story of an actor and an actress, members of a pro- fession that seems to hold a perennial fascination. Both act well and are for- tunate. Both make great names for them- selves in London without having to act in bad plays. Both seem to have the uneasy gift of genius. Between them there is a relationship that is one part love and three parts irritation, and the book is fundamentally concerned to show their progress from mere interdependence to the recognition of it. Within the limits of a theatrical routine that is by no means un- familiar, the incidents in this progress are fresh and sometimes dramatic, especially where they are allowed to make their own effect. The peculiar bond between Loring and his uncle is no less interesting. and when the characters are left to speak for themselves they use the voice-if not exactly of genius, for few of us can counterfeit that-at least of remarkable and rather eccentric intelligences. What prevents the book from being absorbing is its exuberant expression. Just as we cease to be aware of the distinction between reader and character the author will remind us of it with some emotional com- ment that cannot be taken seriously; and her preference for grand words where plain ones would do continuallv sets up an obstruction between the reader and the scene described. TWO COMEDIES Mr. Wodehouse's people are geniuses, as a rule, only in their eccentricity, but UNCLE FRED IN THE SPRING-1 IME presents us with a character as intelligent and nearly as resourceful as Jeeves. Lord Ickenham is imaginative, though he has not the staying power of Jeeves, and his conduct of the latest intrigue at Blandings Castle sets him apart from the Pongos, the Potts, and the other amiable duffers who never see further than their noses. One is particularly glad, too, to renew acquaintance with Lady Constance and Rupert Baxter, the sinister secretary whose glance at those with guilty consciences is the coldest feature of this world in which spring or summer is perpetual. Persons as distinctive as these are valuable in Mr. Wodehouse's comedy, since the one serious criticism to be brought against it is the fact that, while all his books are laugh- able, it is hard to tell them apart. The plot of the present one consists of the same perfectly working mechanism of noble uncles, irresponsible nephews. and pretty girls whose fathers are, for one reason or another, rather less presentable. Lord Emsworth's famous pig is again the storm centre. there is another attempt to carry her off, and there is the customary neces- sitv to straighten out a tangle of betrothals. A comedv of a very ditterent Kind is THE ELEPHANT Is WHITE. by the authors of that celebrated and irreverent detec- tive storv "A Bullet in the Ballet." In their first book and the next one the authors worked to a plot, which is an advantage when describing the behaviour of such unpredictable creatures as Russian dancers in fiction and ballet en- thusiasts in life. In the new book the plot is sketchy, and our entertainment depends almost entirely on the inconse- quences of talk. The princinal characters are again Russians, of the White or new- poor sort. but the only bar-practice they care for is not the kind that dancers mean. They are members of a society that abhors work but. since they are all of them penniless. just tolerates the effort required to obtain money on false, and funny, pretences. The Petrouchka restaurant on the Left Bank is their headquarters. and there we meet them on one of those nights when, by means of mysterious and romantic messages, Nina has in- veigled young visitors to Paris into meeting a beautiful and fabulous Prin- cess. One of her victims on this night is the suitably inconsequent son of an hotel- proprietor who is managing his father's new hotel, and if he is fascinated by the societv's professional indolence the society is no less fascinated by the prospect of free living. Then there is a dreadful little girl, Nina's daughter, and one of the funniest scenes in a rather patchy comedy is the meeting of her new headmistress and a mother who is charmed and bewildered by the extent and varietv of her own un- truthfulness. Another is a fantastic duel in the Bois de Boulogne in which both parties are most reluctant. J. S. NEW NOVELS THE EMOTIONAL SCHOOL