The Wane in Spain

I, THE KING by Frances Parkinson Keyes. 351 pages. McGraw-Hill. $5.95.

They say in the book trade that Frances Parkinson Keyes learned to type on the cash register. This is hard to refute. Mrs. Keyes (rhymes with eyes) is a very nice old lady of 81 who sells all the books she can write. Of the 47 that she has published since 1919, not counting this one, nearly half have been bestsellers. This one is already bobbing, a buoyant cork, on the bestseller lists.

Mrs. Keyes's story is about King Philip IV of Spain, who was born in 1605, died in 1665, and presided, an irresolute, unassertive and undistinguished monarch, over the sunset of the Spanish empire. There is not much story to tell, but Mrs. Keyes stuffs the holes in her plot with dates, names, panoply, history lessons, fashion shows, and archly veiled allusions to sex at the castle level.

The Keyes literary style, which is as smooth as clabber, is to hook connective tissue to a lavish collection of cliches. No doubt the hundreds that occur in her book have been worn even smoother by constant use. "Unseemly behavior," "ulterior motive," "the bond of affection," "spread like wildfire," "fraught with danger," "outraged dignity," "food for thought," "kicking over the traces," "nefarious scheme," "accepted with alacrity," "wild disorders," "the handwriting on the wall," "a figment of imagination," "travel-stained "garments," "the unvarnished truth," "failing fast," "a kind and devoted husband," "their fury knew no bounds," "by hook or crook"--they are all here, sometimes twice and sometimes in flocks: "The immediate result of this dramatic departure was one of widespread enthusiasm and some of the murmurings against Oliveres were stilled when his tardily acknowledged son organized a corps of young nobles which made a brilliant showing and set an example for other gilded youth."

If Mrs. Keyes's books are not really worth reading, why do so many people read them? The answer, to borrow yet another gem from the author's bottomless thesaurus, is not far to seek. Mrs. Keyes's disciples are predominantly women who prefer to take their history with heavy doses of high romance. The Keyes have it.

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