Evening star., 1938-10-05
NEW BOOKS AT
RANDOM
By MARGARET GERMOND.

new YORK: Alfred A. Knopf.
There Is no mistaking what this novel
is about. Its title stamps 1t distinctly
and Its hero. on the second page of the
opening chapter, leaves no doubt about
the ruling passion Of his life when he
writes:
II have loved and I have hated.
LET the ethical people hold up their
hands In horror when I confess that
successful and triumphant hatred has
seemed almost as good to me As love.
II did not turn my other cheek to my
enemy. He smote me bitterly and brutal
ly, but when my own hour was ripe I
gave back to him with ruthlessness the
blows that I had taken"
John Lancaster, beginning with this
frank confession of an uncontrolled de-
sire for vengeance, tells his own story.
He was born of the typical and tradi-
tional poor but honest parents and lived
In a small English town, where his father
conducted neutrality-suspicious. dra-
per's shop. When financial disaster no
longer could be averted the father de-
parted from the scene by way Of suicide
so gracefully committed that 1t succeeded
in giving the appearance of accident and
therefore guaranteeing payment Of his
small life insurance to his widow. The
mother was ''an austere little person In
black, tightly corseted, and with stag's
eyes that were always afraid"
Confronted with the problem of main
tanning herself and her son. the at1stere
little woman sank her small capital in
a lodging house venture which eventually
proved sufficiently profitable to permit
comfortable living, but there were no
luxuries and there was very little time
for companionship between mother and
son. Little John lived hard and did
without the sympathy that he needed.
He was sent to the best school his mother
could afford, and it was there that his
sensitive nature suffered all the varieties
of humiliation that self-deflned better
born youngsters can infiict upon a less
favored schoolmate.
Craving beauty, a natural dreamer,
and possessed Of a keen sense of appre-
citation of the finer things OF life, young
John especially resented the unwar-
ranted brutalities increasingly inflicted
upon him by Beverley Bullstrode. If
circumstances had not compelled them
to live in the same neighborhood the
poor boy might have forgotten his rich
and titled enemy, but life was not treat
ing John to that sort of luck. He swore
vengeance and devoted himself to the
pleasure Of making success of hatred.
The struggle was long one and. Of
course. hard one. Hampered by stern
and uncompromising mother, beset by
Bullstrode at every turn and keenly
aware at all times Of his social in
feriority, there was little to give en-
couragement to young Lancaster. But
he was made of the stun that endures
and he survived even the marriage to
his enemy Of the girl he loved. Eventual
ly he attained his goal. How he accumu-
lated wealth, became a respected and
powerful man in the community and saw
Bullstrode 60 down to defeat makes an
absorbing story that adds one more to
the list Of tales Of high courage and
triumph over adversely.
Hx4
MURDER BY BURIAL. BY Stanley
Casson. New York. Harper l.
Brothers.
The author Of this unusual murder
story is a newcomer in the field of fc-
ton. He is an archeologist by profess
sion and a world authority on the
Byzantine period. He was born in Lon
don, educated at Oxford and went to
Greece In 1918 as a student of archaeology.
During the Great War he served in the
Balkan campaigns, resuming his studies
with the return Of peace. He carried on
excavations in Constantinople and
Greece and is now q reader in classical
archaeology and q fellow Of New College,
oxford. Also he is an honorary associate
of the British Institute of Architects
and member of the German Archeolog-
ical Institute. His books until now have
been scholarly works on Greek sculpture,
general archaeology, modern sculpture
and history. AS a mystery novelist he
still is scholarly and is the inventor Of
a most unusual method Of murder.
Both archaeology and architecture have
a place in the story, which is founded
upon Britain's pre-Roman and Roman
civilizations. The action takes place in
the cathedral town of Kynchester, be-
lieved by Canon Burberry to be the site
Of the ancient Celtic town from which
King Cunobeline reigned. The Canon is
something Of an archeologist and in ad-
dition to his priestly duties is interested
Ill pIUtlIlR AllS tllCOIy dDOuG VAAC CoWA'
Miss Eleanor Boddick and her niece.
Hilary Stevens, are warm friends Of
the Canon and are deeply interested in
his researches.
Col. Cackett, not unlikable but
somewhat mysterious man with a good
war record, has passion for proving the
glories Of the Roman civilization era
and is devoting himself to arousing
sentiment for recognition throughout
the country of the greatness of Claudius
by erecting huge monument to his
memory. The site chosen for the me-
mortal borders upon the area which the
Canon is granted permission to excavate.
Two warning camps Of thought and pur-
pose begin operations.
Some very peculiar friends and sup
porters gather around Col. Cackett and
his own behavior seems bit more than
queer to his neighbors, but the friendly
relationships with the Canon, - Miss
Boddick and Hilary continue. The mon
strous memorial to >Claudius Is erected
and the Canon's excavations in search
of gold coins Of the Cunobeline era pro-
ceed simultaneously with the colonel as
suming a mildly contemplate attitude
toward the digging project and the