THE RISING RIVER

This continues what Mrs. Sanford calls her ""informal autobiography"" begun with The Second Mrs. Wu which means it hearkens back to her own youth. in a much earlier China with missionary folk. And it also means that in between the good words of the Gospel and the pidgin Chinese, there is a certain awareness of trying to make East and West meet on terms the former can accept. This time it's Bruce McFarland's Mei-mei, a waif he pulls out of the river and adopts, whose marriage must be arranged in a way which can satisfy Chinese custom and Christian love; also Bruce's own romance with the at first rigid Mary Lee; and a fine unassimilated production of Romeo and Juliet. Sometimes Rising River does give way to a rising gorge of sentimentality but then the occasional humor redeems it. . . . Velly well for fliendly leaders.