THE GREEN LAUREL

Despite the rambling verbiage and the explanations of character motivations which speak for themselves , this story contains some sharp insights into the feelings of an 11-year-old girl groping for an ordered life and into the problems faced by her family. Lesley Somerville's father owned a miniature train which he operated in carnivals in various parts of Australia. Her sister shared her father's sense of adventure, but the wanderlust was lacking in Lesley, who yearned for a home. The family was confronted with some difficult adjustments when Mr. Sommerville was told that he would have to have an extended convalescent period and the rest of the menage had to stay in a grim housing unit. In this unappealing background, Lesley derives the sense of stability she needs and out of it an awareness of her own abilities. By the author of Lillipilly Hill (1963, p. 867, J-281), the natural problems of the Somervilles have a typically Australian setting.