MY FRIEND FLORA

Another in the succession of personal portraits of those within the recall of Janet Sandison's childhood at Reachfar in the Highlands tells the story of Flora Bedamned (her nickname), not so much a friend as one who through the years was to be pitied. For Flora was ""born to give and never get"" and she is seen helping Janet on her first day at school; then her mother's death left her to care for her harsh, hardworking father, her four brothers, and her deformed baby sister- Georgie. One of the boys, Jamie, runs off to America; Georgie becomes a public menace and disgrace; the other brothers are killed, in an accident, in the war, and finally Jamie's death-in America- leaves the aging Flora, now all alone, with the care of his four children. This burden she assumes- happily....Onward but not necessarily upward in this series which tells a steady story, homely in its philosophy and kindly in sentiment.