THE GRASS GROWS GREEN

A distinctly challenging story -- and an interesting one -- of a German immigrant family, with roots in Bavaria, where the old folks still held memories of the Napoleonic Wars, and with youth in America, exultant over the adventure of the Great War -- the span of the life of Frieda, the eternal pioneer. It is typical of many stories of America, stories of the uphill climb, of fineness and pettiness, of imagination and perseverance, of good luck and bad. The characters are real. The incidents ring true. Most of our ""chronicle novels"" are rooted in the soil. This story is rooted in the city, where the immigrant boy and girl came, trusting to the elder brothers who had come before them, and to the promise of a new country. Frieda had lost her great love; she was opportunist enough to seize what came her way later, and to build on that, making of it what she could. It's a story that grows on you. The publishers feel it their most promising ""dark horse"" and are backing it enthusiastically, with an initial advertising appropriation of $3,000.