Shadow Buttress, by Showell Styles. London: Faber and Faber, 1959. 255 pages. Price 15s.

This well-written novel tells the story of a brilliant Scottish rock-climber who suddenly faces progressive blindness as the result of a war injury. The effect of this affliction upon his personality and upon his relationship with his fiancee and others in his circle of friends and climbing companions is poignantly described. The author imparts to his characters a very considerable degree of life. The carefully planned plot holds the reader’s attention. In the freedom with which some personal relationships are handled, the outlook is thoroughly modern. The extensive climbing passages are superbly effective. They ring true and carry an authentic "feel” of British rock- climbing. This is an able book of quite absorbing interest.

Frank E. Gaebelein