DOREEN

by Barbara Noble ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 10, 1946

Distinguished by a very poignant freshness, a restraint, and a very pure sense of character, this is a first novel with implications beyond its rather minor proportions, a story of a Cockney child sent to the country during the Blitz which imposes a social- as well as a human problem. Doreen, the only possession of Mrs. Rawlings, a char, is cared for with a dogged, maternal devotion, but is finally sent away to the Osbornes, a childless couple who belong to quite another class, the gentry. It is Mrs. Rawlings, not the Osbornes, who realizes that she is losing Doreen to a standard and an outlook of another class, who has the sour satisfaction of watching Doreen fulfill the Osbornes' frustrated objective of a child of their own, who has the fear that Doreen will never return to the London slums. And it is Mrs. Rawlings who makes the decision to take Dorsen back to poverty and danger, knowing that it is a question of absolute possession or absolute loss. Beyond its theme, which is perhaps limited today- particularly in this country-, this is an appealing slight story, deftly, delicately managed.

Pub Date: Oct. 10, 1946

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1946

Categories: FICTION