Four Frightened People: A Novel

by E. Arnot Robertson

Matter of fact Judy Corder, a 26 year old doctor, is travelling with her cousin Stewart on a slow ship to Singapore. Incarcerated with their fellow passengers, at 107 degrees in the shade, they fall in with the hearty Mrs Mardick and Arnold Ainger, and intriguing, somewhat pompous married man. Then plague breaks out. Under cover of darkness, all four flee the ship for the terrors of the jungle. In the depths of the jungle, civilisation abandoned, the true natures of all four assert themselves ...

Genres: Fiction, British Literature, Classics

350 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1931

About the author

Eileen Arbuthnot Robertson was an English novelist, critic and broadcaster.

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

It can be unnerving starting to read a book knowing a number of other people really didn’t like it at all. I plucked Four Frightened People off the shelf – not even sure where I had got it – intrigued by the title and the blurb, I think it was one my sister found me in a charity shop, alerted to it by the dark green Virago spine. A few pages in and I discovered it was referred to as ‘that book’ by members of the Librarything Virago group – whose opinion I trust. My heart sank. I had started a dud; the trouble was I couldn’t put it down. Well I suppose by now we are all very well aware of how opinions on books can differ greatly, and Four Frightened People is a case in point. Although I do understand why some people dislike it and there were elements which made me uncomfortable, I enjoyed it a lot.

Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...

[Frances Brody · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1931, when the author was 27, this is an imaginative splicing of travel writing, thrilling yarn and romance that was hugely popular in its day. The narrator is Judy Corder, age 26, a doctor. Recently ditched by her lover, Judy is travelling with her cousin Stewart, journalist and would-be playwright on board a slow ship to Singapore.

She and another passenger, the aloof intellectual Arnold Ainger, realise that there is plague on the ship. They resolve to make for the shore at dead of night, with little more than the clothes on their backs. Judy, Stewart and Ainger are unable to shake off the extremely irritating, garrulous Mrs Mardick (supposedly based on the author's mother), and so she makes number four. With the assistance of local guide, Deotlan, and his paramour, Wan Nau, they then spend an awfully long time cutting their way through a most authentically portrayed Malayan jungle (researched by Arnot Robertson in the British Museum).

There are fascinating insights into the thoughts, lives and motivations of the characters. Judy is impatient, dismissive of other women such as Mrs Mardick - definitely a lesser being than herself. Judy is honest about her own sexual desires, and her rage is never far below the surface. In a discussion with Ainger about older people, she says, 'I don't remember much of pre-War elderly people ... But I do remember their bloody-mindedness ... White haired ladies in hydros and rose-spraying ex-colonels clamouring for reprisals for every alleged atrocity. They were the only bitter haters then. The fighting services seemed to be notably lacking in their parents' "stick-em-all-up-against-the-wall-and-shoot-em" Patriotism.'

Some of the attitudes in the story feel very dated now, towards Deotlan for instance. The plot condenses into a romantic triangle between Judy, Stewart and Arnold Ainger, and she writes convincingly of how love strikes, and transforms the loved being into something wondrous.

I'm glad to have read this story. Would I recommend it? Only to someone with a special interest in the period or the author.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Run, Mrs Mardick, run! Or at least, do not go anywhere at all with these people. Judy Corder may fancy herself capable of being in love, but she has no heart! I am dreading telling my other half what I thought of this book - he absolutely loved it, revelling in the adventures and misdeeds of Judy and co - I am afraid to tell him I hated her. I did enjoy the book, it had some excellent scenes - the crossing the river one was memorable for its tension and hyper-realism - and I was able to enjoy a vicarious perve on the scantily clad Asian ship's stokers through Judy's eyes. But were I to make a film of this, it would be a horror film. Judy has all the makings of a first class psychopath.

[Arthur Pierce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not strictly an adventure but, rather, an adventure laced with philosophy or, perhaps, vice-versa. Neither of these elements as presented here did I find more than occasionaly intriguing.

[Pascale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was captivated by this book from start to finish. Not so much by the suspense element of the plot, since after all, it is obvious that the narrator at least has survived her ordeal in the malayan jungle, but by the style. Robertson's descriptions of the jungle are so eery that half-way through the book I read the introduction in the hope of finding out what her sources were. I was tickled to discover that although she's never been to Malaya, and had based everything on research done at the British Library, she'd managed to con Army colonels into believing that she was an old hand from the colonies. Obviously she was a keen observer of nature and was able to imagine from printed sources how animals she'd never seen at first hand behaved. Beyond that, she is also an extraordinary analyst of the human animal. Basically the story follows Judy Corder, a newly qualified medical doctor, through an ill-conceived jungle adventure undertaken in order to escape from a boat where Chinese coolies are dying from a plague epidemic. Judy's companions are her cousin Stewart, an erudite civil servant called Arnold Ainger, and a garrulous matron, Mrs. Mardick, whom the party eventually abandons because they can't stand her chatter. The decision to make a bunk originates with Arnold who is passionate about oriental languages and the Napoleonic wars. Of course, as soon as the disparate group lands, nothing goes as planned and the small party, led by an unreliable local guide called Deotlan, spends close to 3 months traipsing through the jungle in increasing discomfort. Roberston's greatest achievement lies in her handling of this small cast of characters and her ear for dialogue. She has much to say about relations between men and women, white people and indigenous people, rivals in love and all sorts of other configurations. Judy has no time for the small - and large - hypocrisies on which social codes are built, and I have a feeling the author must have been quite an acid commentator. But I loved her tart remarks on all sorts of topics and can't wait to read more by this author.

[Laura Wasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some uncomfortable, dated racism but I rate it highly for the descriptions of surviving in the jungle. Humidity, heat, unrelenting sun, lack of food and water, failing bodies. Carrying on despite exhaustion. Could have done without the love story but overall an absorbing, short read which transports you elsewhere. Recommend reading in winter so you can luxuriate in the descriptions of heat.

[Phil Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never quite worked out which four people the title refers to. Daft story, with casual racism until toward the end when the racism becomes extreme. Fascinating insight into the 1920s/30s.

[Kat Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, fab. Delighted to have discovered Robertson. Intending to read more from her pen.

[JimZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a good read. It dragged on in some places, at least for me. Overall: 3.5 stars

I had forgotten that this was the author who wrote ‘Ordinary Families’. Robertson is a skilled yachtsperson and she went into great detail on sailing in that novel, so much so I rated it 2.5 stars because of her perseveration on that theme in the book. It bored me to tears because I am not a sailor. In that review I posted on Goodreads I did say this: ‘I hear tell that ‘Four Frightened People’ is a good book of hers, so I guess I will give that a shot.’ So I gave it a shot and overall I did like it.
She managed to convincingly convey the gloominess, the heat and humidity, the sometimes stink, and the sometimes/oftentimes scariness of being in a jungle. All of that. Boars and tigers seeing you as prey....and you not knowing at any point in time whether they are in the vicinity and whether they are aware of you, and stalking you. I have not read such a novel like this maybe ever. I am sure there are many novels that have jungle scenes and so for some readers, reading about being in the jungle might be blasé. For me, a first-timer...nope. Don’t count me in to take a camping trip in a jungle anytime soon. 😑 😬

Synopsis:
• Matter-of-fact Judy Corder, a 26-year-old doctor, is travelling with her cousin Stewart on a slow ship to Singapore. Incarcerated with their fellow passengers. At 107 degrees in the shade, they fall in with the hearty Mrs. Mardick and Arnold Ainger, an intriguing, somewhat pompous, (married) man. Then plague breaks out. Under cover of darkness all four flee the ship for the terrors of the jungle: a fabulous journey of adventures and difficulties wonderfully recorded by Judy with her beady eye and sense of humour. Then, in the depths of the jungle, civilization abandoned, the true natures of all four assert themselves. A poignant love affair unfolds and its triumphant conclusion — at Simpson’s in the Strand — is the very least the splendid Judy deserves.

Notes:
• It was made into a movie in 1934, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Claudette Colbert as Judy and Herbert Marshall as Arnold Ainger. It wasn't very good (see: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025134/... ).
• This is funny — from the above link: One other story DeMille told was that Claudette Colbert had a strong aversion more than most to little creepy crawly critters and in Hawaii many unusual ones thrive. On the first day of shooting she sat down on a centipede and became hysterical. How she got through the film God only knows. But the very next film Claudette did was It Happened One Night and that was her Oscar winning part. Good recompense for going through Four Frightened People.
• I read from a Virago Modern Classics re-issue. Soon after her husband died (a boating accident on the river), E. Arnot Robertson committed suicide. She was ~58.
• This is interesting...it comes from the last link I provide below...included in that link is a review by Nick, and at the end of the review he (she?) said this: Virago reprinted this one so obviously someone thought it worthy of interest on the editorial board. Interestingly the Virago edition features a striking painting done by Gerald Leslie Brochurst of his then young model Kathleen Woodward who he subsequently married although his first marriage had become rocky after an affair with his wife's sister 😮 😮, so even the cover has an intriguing story attached to it.

Reviews:
• https://www.librarything.com/work/217873 A number of different reviews, one of which reminds me that I should mention the book has racist overtones in that the white characters in the novel are seen as superior to those of the natives, who sometimes are described in such a way so as to consider them barely human. And Chinese laborers who are in the boat that has the plague are referred to as ‘coolies’ (considered now to be a derogatory term).
• http://apenguinaweek.blogspot.com/201...