VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

An interesting first novel whose brilliant recording of campus argot and attitudes of the early 30's background the maturation of Cornelia Ross, wealthy, clever, intelligent, sometimes appalling, sometimes pathetic. Her ability at cartooning brings her a chance on the (California) State University humorous paper, the friendship of an art professor, Pringle. When she has a humiliating experience with a wolf, Pringle catches her fancy, and his portrait of her intensifies her pursuit of him. But his wife and three children, plus his fame as a ladykiller, sends Cornelia into an affair -- without love -- with her editor. The bitter ending in softened by the return of her mother with her third husband (a Nazi German) and the chance to examine the results of achieving what you want by any means. Pringle as a husband is her aim, but as she is about to get her wish her mother's attitude wakes her up and she puts Pringle out of her life permanently, turns to a home town boy, solid, dependable, wise, to face the kind of person she wants to be. Modern conditioning paying off to a development of a personality, with experience a factor in the growing up. The succession of attitudes, emotions, mental stumblings have a quality of reality that give this a vital touch.