STORMY PRESENT

This is nicely done, though not of very wide appeal. A story of a West Virginia mountain girl, told through her diary. There's a good deal of indigenous character and charm -- and there's an appealing, lively heroine in Sherrill Poague, one of many children, whose mother's death in childbirth made Sherrill determine never to have children. This resolve is strengthened by her forced betrothal to a cold, self-righteous preacher, Ridgeon. But as the wedding draws near, Sherrill elopes with David, from the north, a man whose whole background differs sharply from hers. She faces problems of adjustment; she battles his wish for children; eventually she finds herself pregnant and recognizes how wrong her decision had been. Rather limited, but with a certain charm.