YOUNG WALTER SCOTT

Somewhat fictionized biography of Walter Scott, up to the time he meets the girl he loves, not long after his apprenticeship in the law has begun. A vigorous picture of boyhood against odds, in the Edinburgh of the days of the threat of John Paul Jones, the glamour of Bobbie Burns, and the severity of the Sabbath gloom. One feels a tone of authenticity in the character of young Walter, valiant but a trifle embittered by his lameness, winning his right to boyhood joys and pastimes. Elizabeth Gray's previous book was a pre-Civil War story -- Jane Hope. She's a writer of unusual versatility and promise.