RETREAT IN GOOD ORDER

by Jane White ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 22, 1970

This is one of those novels of circumspect people which is not to be dismissed as light housekeeping -- there's too much broken glass underfoot. Sarah and Robert are about forty, childless, reciprocally indulgent and attentive. At this point in their well-cared-for lives Sarah's brother dies, leaving orphaned sixteen-year-old Maria in an Italian Convent school. They are glad to acquire her although the situation is obviously boobytrapped and Maria, innocent, intense, prim and volatile, creates difficulties which everyone except Robert recognizes. Miss White is a sufficiently self-possessed writer to be able to ""retreat in good order"" having overloaded her novel with unstrung people (a recently hospitalized neighbor; Sarah's own psychotic episode during a pregnancy; Maria's hysterical accusation and flight) and they do make instant recoveries which are more consonant with the civilized tenor of the book rather than with reality. Still it is the most approachable and attractive novel she has written.

Pub Date: Jan. 22, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1970

Categories: FICTION