H! TO BE IN ENGLAND

In April- with The Darling Buds of May- who are making their fourth seasonal appearance. Actually, the raffish Larkins are as larky as ever; Pop, with his abundant appetites (wine and women); Ma, for whom he buys a rose-ringed chamber pot, who has taken up painting; Mariette, their eldest, who poses for her, nude in the buttercups- or in ""the never-never""; their other six children, and Mariette's baby, Blenheim, whom they decide to christen. The christening becomes quite an occasion when they decide that all eight shall stand up, to the confusion of one Reverend Candy who has a little trouble with the batting order, but it ends beatifically with one further tribute to the Lord's- and Pop Larkin's-largesse-- Ma is pregnant again.....Another plein air, pastoral scene, all verdant greens, flesh pinks and corn yellows. Either you enjoy it- or you don't. Thin Bates.