Evening star., 1937-08-04
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
BY MARGARET CERMOND.
AND SO-VICTORIA. BY Vaughan
wilkins. New York: The Macmillan

Co.
Mr.. wilkins story of the tempestuous
years preceding the accession of Victoria
to the throne of England recalls to
memory fantastic form of entertain
ment produced not SO many years ago
by mechanical device that proved to
contain the principle upon which the
invention and improvement OF the mo-
ton picture was later perfected A coin
dropped into slot machine released the
clatch on crank that when turned set
In motion a rotating shaft to which
hundreds of tiny flexible cardboard pic
lures were attached in orderly sequence.
The rapid release of one picture after
another created an illusion of animation
that made possible the presentation of
complete miniature motion" picture.
The machine was SO designed that only
one spectator at time could view the
show, and shaft-shifting device made
possible change of performance with
the deposit of another coin. 1t was
known as Kaleidoscope"
Comparing novel with slot machine
show is perhaps far-fetched parallel
ISM but the resemblance in this in
stance is too pronounced to be ignored,
even though the subject matter of the
novel is based upon well known and
duly recorded historic facts. Countless
episodes enhance the effect of a series
OF short dramatic pieces. Drawn to-
gether into whole composition, they
present Kaleidoscope pageant of fan
tastic pictures superimposed upon large
gallery OF famous and infamous men and
women who were constantly Matching
frultless plots and counterplotS behind
the throne to prevent the accession of
Victoria.
Christopher HarniSh proves to be a
| hero whose adventures make those of
| the time-honored and enterprising vaga-
bonds of history and fiction fade into
| lnslgnificance. He is presented as the
| son OF the Princess Amelia and her
nephew, the unacknowledged son of
| George III. The dramatic events which
crowd his life begin before he is old
| enough to know that there is a world
| beyond that with which he has visual
acquaintance AS small child he is
| made the tool of plot to kill the healthy
| girl infant who was destined to become
Queen Victoria. Acquiring a decided dis
taste for his home. he runs away and
| falls into the hands of a disreputable
| rascal who scours the poorhouses. novels
| and brothels for children to sell into
slavery in the big cities
While with this miserable group Of
| child prisoners he falls in love with one
| OF the little girls. Later a murder is
committed and only by the narrowest of
| margins does he and several of his Waif
| companions escape being hanged He
! finds favor with little American girl
! living in London who helps him to evade
| his pursuers and lends a guiding hand
| in his development toward manhood.
Christopher grows up and goes to
! Germany to serve as cadet in the
Household Guards of the Grand Duchess
| OF Hesse-Niepperg. He becomes involved
in another tragedy and through that
experience learns the identity of his
| father. He learns also that William
| ", the new King, is his uncle and that
| the famous singer who is the favorite of
| the Duke OF Brunswick is none other
| than the little Waif to whom he had
| given his childhood love. Learning also
| that the Duke of Cumberland has Or
| ganlzed plot to seize Victoria and make
| himself ruler of England, CHRISTOPHER
| decides to lose his own identity and to
| organize counterplot to uncover the
0'AoAS uAAoa WI anu w Save VIC
| toria.
His new plans make it necessary for
Christopher to travel extensively. He
sails for America and gathers scores of
| adventures before he returns to England
to try to frustrate new plot, Matched by
his disreputable relatives, to bring about
q revolution and place Cumberland on
the throne. He Journeys to France, to
n own 70
| constantly scheming to defeat his own
! enemies and those of Victoria and regu-
larly being rescued from tragic conse-
| quences by the faithful Lord Setoun,
whose timely interest in carriages driven
| by coal affords the staging of a sensa
tional escape from bad situation in
Wales 1t would seem that so much
activity would leave Christopher little
time for social life, love-making or the
enjoyment of peaceful pastimes But
somehow he manages to accomplish all
things, including a qualification Of the
urge to put on paper the thoughts that
| filled his mind"
In recounting the spectacular adven-
| lures of his hero, the author makes him
| an intimate part of each group with
which he becomes associated. The GUS
toms, manners and dialects of the vari-
| GUS locations work into a colorful design
which, woven between the episodes,
| serves to hold them together in fairly
| good pattern.
The story is, of course, a romantic
| novel, based primarily upon the historical
| events of glamorous era in the develop
ment of great empire. Such a story
! Is always entertaining, even though it
may not throw new light upon the
| familiar scene. Lack of entertainment
| is assuredly not fault that can be
| lodged against Mr.. wilkins, who is a
| newcomer in, the field of fiction. Rather
is it surplus of entertainment that
overburdens it's more than six hundred
| pages and detracts considerably from its
| main theme.