THE GIVEN HEART

Donna Parnell's clannish family seem terribly far away to her after she leaves Blue Feather, Indiana, to go with her new husband, Gene, a chemical engineer to live in Jarmyn, a suburb of New York City. Extroverted herself, Donna finds her husband's reticence disturbing, particularly since Easterners seem less friendly to her than Midwesterners. In time she and her young husband adjust their differences and Donna detaches herself emotionally from the familial apron-strings to bring associations to her neighbors. There is no great strength to the emotional crises but the problem is realistic and presented with entertaining sub-plots in the friendships Donna finally forms.