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THE BRIEF YEAR by Grace Jamison Breckling

THE BRIEF YEAR

By

Publisher: Westminster

This is the story of one year, 1913, when the hazily Victorian, staunchly reactionary thinking of a small Midwestern town was almost rudely snapped into focus by a forth-right, crusading educator. Writing in the '40's, Sharon tells of her 16th year when she loved- and lost, and when the beliefs of Derek Wyngate, the new high school principal nearly forced the town to open its eyes to the changing times. Liked by his students for his stimulating lectures and his social and schoolroom innovations, Derek's battle for the acceptance of new theories and pedagogical freedom is lost through the adamant stand of the oldsters and his wife's final treachery. Part schoolgirl diary and part rueful reminiscence of a mature woman, this presents a trite situation which, though highlighted by precise period detail, is still bogged down in molasses.