THE TWO MISS ABBOTTS

Decidedly light, but also attractive, this tale of Miss Buncle, now Mrs. Abbott, and her niece, Jerry, also Mrs. Abbott, in their combined finger-in-pie in their village, Wandlebury. There are old friends visiting, there is heartstring trouble, as Jerry matchmakes with a vengeance, but learns that people in love are not puppets, there is a problem of men who can't go to war, of young evacuees who have learned to love the country, of older women who have found new outlets for their experience, of the popular author attempting, the hard way, to change her style...These are but a few of the well mixed ingredients that make for pleasant reading. There is a slightly Thirkell feel in the procession of teas, a bazaar, children, unimportant incidents, which provides escape from the grimmer side of wartime in England.