THE LUCKY VAGABOND

Not so well integrated a story as The Winter Nightingale, this story of the province of Auvergne, and of little Mimi, and the strange adventure that befalls her when she meets with the vagabond Daniel, and his tame bear. The villagers never quite come into being; the cruel aunts are Cinderella characters and unreal, the escape to the lonely mother is a fairy tale ending. Jeantou is the one real person in the book -- and even his devotion to Mimi seems beyond belief at times.