THE LONELY MAN

This is Miss Baldwin's 61st novel; while more reasonable than her last-The West Wind- it is again modulated in mood and there's a certain fall coloring to the tone of the September story it tells. Jonathan Condit is a doctor in a small New England town and certain professional and temperamental factors contribute to his loneliness beyond the fact that he is widowed. Jonathan is seen in relation to his patients (the death of one; the breakdown of a young girl, etc., etc.); to his sister, a managerial woman in pursuit of the local minister (he has his own troubles -- his daughter becomes an unwed mother); and to Frances, a pretty, persistent divorcee who is not discouraged by his disinclination to become involved... A story of the middle years which readers of this peer group will find a pleasant mollient.