MY FRIEND SASHIE

Another installment in the life of narrator Janet Sandison whose husband died three weeks ago and who finds herself drowning herself in. . . Sashie, an old friend who lost his legs in World War II and a very exotic hybrid bloom in campy costume, watches over her and rebukes her when she tipples, almost begins to spook her when she becomes really ill, and finally saves her when he tells her his story -- still more tragic -- of how he put on his ""fairy act"" to hide the physical deformity of his tin legs. The scene again is that West Indian island so far from modern times however regenerative the intent. Still there are all those other friends in need. . . . . .of an anodyne.