ESPECIALLY AT CHRISTMAS

A seasonal sampler of mildly oppressive heart warmers, from the author's memories of a Southern girlhood, all having to do with the giving Christmas spirit. There were ebullient elderly ladies of meager fortunes but happy hearts--old Mrs. Randall, proud of her son the safecracker; the unsinkable Mrs. Bell who sold papers in a World War I overcoat; Miss Lucy, dotty with purple black hair; and so on. There was down-and-out Mrs. Dooley with a brood of kids and a real joy in living. A poet, a devoted slum worker, an old mountain friend--all are subjects of ""Most Unforgettable"" portraits which slug the message across in no un-Sarton terms.