Word: venetia
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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...background and general atmosphere is again London. The main jumble of the plot starts before the war in Vardon's house at Liverpool. We are introduced to his ten year old daughter Venetia, to Peter Serle, a young man, but already a member of Parliament, and to a uselessly rich Jew. Then we jump to London during the war. Venetia has just come home from school, and Serle, always close to her, is her devoted friend. At a houseparty she meets Saville, a young author, and dislikes him intensely. Six years later, Ysabel, American musical comedy star, enters the book...
...Venetia marries Young Raphael, who is by this time reconciled with his father; Saville and Ysabel are living in Paris, and all the minor characters have conveniently died off. Venetia has always known that she would marry Young Raphael--so has the reader--but the interest is kept up till the end, as the characters at times become so involved with one another--that it takes a long time and even an extra paragraph...
...book is very pleasant reading nevertheless, though perhaps not as, good as some of his earlier work, particularly "Piracy." Many of the characters are already familiar. Venetia has the flavor of Tris March in the "Green Hat" or Shelmerdine in "The London Venture"; in Saville there is Pelham Marlay, and in the likeable Peter Serle a touch of Lord George Tarlyon. Venetia Vardon is the typical lovely creature of Michael Arlen, impossible yet plausible, stunning and elusive. At least the author has realized the truth of O. Henry's maxim that Bohemia is merely a land we do not live...
Politics, the Press, Finance." Then there is Venetia, the daughter of Finance; Raphael, the son of the Press, and Savil, the writer, whose resemblance to Author Arlen will provoke chitchat...
...these people fall in love with the utmost bitterness. Venetia is lost between Peter Serle and Charles Savile. Raphael grows excited about an actress but fails to commit suicide although Author Arlen has thoughtfully put a yacht at his service with this purpose in mind. In the main their actions are unimportant, their manners make the story. Other figures glitter from unexpected portions of the narrative. Mr. Arlen has not entirely relinquished his trick of reinserting personages from previous books. The immaculate George Tarlyon is seen for an instant, playing bridge...