CANDLE IN THE SUN

For sheer contrast in mood, tempo and resolution, read this against Rumer Godden's The Battle of the Villa Fiorital- Here the Ginever's marriage had been long on the rocks- if it had ever meant anything real. The only daughter, Flavia, was a mixed-up teen ager, who had come to hate her mother and was only uncertain about what would happen to her if her parents divorced. George Ginever was the straying partner, and only as the story opens had he found the right person for marriage. And the wife- indifferent to his infidelities- cared only for the position of being his wife in public. Her emotional interests were Lesbian. It is a tawdry tale, told with considerable restraint, but nobody could quarrel with the outcome. No one of the characters, except possibly the confused Young Flavia, has more than two dimensions.