The Way to Glory
by . Knopf, $3.00.
The Way to Glory, like its predecessor The Margin, is not quite first-rate; but it has an attraction which makes one shrink from calling it second-rate. A conventional young Englishman whose wife’s tense behavior has strained their marriage, though basically they are in love — goes on an extended business trip to Paris. He meets up with a Bohemian sort of girl. Sara, who claims to be half English, and they have a passionate love affair. He spends some time with an old friend who is a zealous Communist, and he becomes embroiled in Saras personal problems her brother is a deserter from the Royal Air Force, and her parents are colored.
Eventually, he returns to his wife, as he had always intended to do, with a knowledge that life is vastly more complicated than he had imagined. It sounds banal, but it just escapes banality. Mr. Scott has a talent for making his people interesting: his touch is light and sure; and he consistently registers an intelligent comment on human behavior in the contemporary world. His novel meets two important tests: it has the stamp of reality and it establishes a firm hold on the reader.