THE CHINA SHEPHERDESS

From the French, these annals of adolescence reflect a casual, experimental, unpredictable phase of experience with no particular pattern over and above the rather impromptu inclinations of a number of young people who cross the pages here. There is Marie-Jeanne, who as a schoolgirl establishes a pleasant friendship with Flora, an aging whore, and Ted, a retired jockey- Marie-Jeanne who will grow up to be loved by all who meet her; Nicholas, her cousin, who wants to experience everything and while of more fortunate circumstances hires out as a butler; Ferdinand, an aristocrat's son, who steals- to win Marie-Jeanne- and ends up in jail; Bouasais, a Senstor's son, whom Marie-Jeanne chooses for her first affair; etc., etc. These and others appear in scattered incidents which are intended to show the vagaries of youth before maturity imposes a more rigid design and it is pleasantly amiable and amoral. This is M. Marceau's first book to be brought over here- and it is a very special taste, one may suspect deliberately so.