AXEL

Pleasing story of English-Norwegian family, a nice portrait of two generations, told with understanding, intelligence and a dash of whimsy thrown in. A man of forty-five decides to adopt a family and starts with a girl and two boys. The perplexities of raising them are somewhat simplified by the intervention of a friend and his mother, but even so they three plot out their own lives. The handling is a cross between Margery Sharp and Ethel Boileau -- and good reading.