Goodness at Bognor

THE FORTNIGHT IN SEPTEMBER--R. C. Sherriff--Stokes ($2).

Thanks largely to the homilists, simple human goodness is out of style. To modern eyes it appears too simple to be good, too good to be true. Novelist Sherriff, better known as the playwright of Journey's End, thinks differently. His book goes to show that simple human goodness has its practically seamless sides.

The high average miseries of low average people give this goodness something to bite into. The life of the Stevens family along the railroad embankment showed little to brag of. Mr. Stevens was a poorly paid clerk; Dick and Mary worked out; Mrs. Stevens kept house; young Ernie kept it lively. They could afford few pleasures; they were fed up with tedious work; they took little interest in the out-side world, but--they took their holiday.

For 20 years they had stayed at Mrs. Hugget's lodging-house at Bognor on the sea. Though Mrs. Hugget's place, since the death of her husband, showed more shabbiness than gentility, the Stevenses were faithful once again. With meticulous detail Author Sherriff recounts their departure from London, the thrilling railway journey, their stay in Bognor. Nothing happens except that for two weeks they all breathe free. Their mutual affection, having survived the cooping of their poor city life, turns outward to the world at large. Mr. Stevens meets old cronies at the pub; Dick has an inspiration to become an architect; Mary does a little sparking on the sly. After their breath of fresh air they return to London, to be again submerged.

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