THE THIRTEENTH

by Melita Maschmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 13, 1963

The thirteenth is the lucky number, the only survivor as an excursion coach plunges down a ravine near Nice. This fills in a little about the other passengers- casualties before they meet their death. All have lived with guilt- failure- regret- and have some sort of reparations to make: two Brothers, the aging Father Andre whose blindness is a reprieve from temptation, and the young Daniel whose parents, Hitler's victims, had left him in a monastery; a young man who steals and courts death; an attractive Viennese addicted to gambling; a woman past middle age still looking for love; an estranged father and son; etc., etc. Then there's the stranger in a red scarf with his messianic assurance to each- ""I shall save you""..... In translation from the German, this short book uses a derivative convention and can hardly bear the weight of all its exposition. And Miss Maschmann, a lacklustre writer, has done very little to animate the rather glum company she keeps beyond the newspaper release with which her story starts.

Pub Date: June 13, 1963

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Abelard-Schuman

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1963

Categories: FICTION