A PLACE TO STAND

There's not the depth of some of her earlier books here, but this story of a younggirl who escapes the insulation and the immunity of the wealthy American abroad, and is sensitive to the impact of a Europe which will shortly be at war, provides a pleasant entertainment. Hope Kirkland, whose father represents oil interests in Budapest in 1941 and who is engaged (although her heart is not entirely) to Sam, a newspaperman, becomes involved with a family of Polish refugees when Sam asks her to transmit some passports. Impulsive, and for the first time independent, Hope continues to help the Moranskas and falls in love with Stefan who is smuggling others through the underground. As the German panzers roll into Budapest, and Hope is sent away, she jumps the train to rejoin the Moranskas, witnesses the death of old Mrs. Moranska, and gives her passport to Mrs. Moranska's daughter. Her farewell with Stefan underlines the fact that their worlds can never meet or meld, and returns her to Sam in the knowledge that she is readier for him..... If this is a probable picture of Europe at this time, and a puppet state, the characters are puppets too- but the aura is attractive and romanticizes a drama of escape and evasion.