MRS. SHERMAN'S SUMMER

A warm, friendly family chronicle is centered on Mrs. Sherman, a rich German-American Jewess, a matriarch of the best type, full of gutty humor, concern and strength. Mrs. Sherman has few illusions about her children and stays out of their lives, except in moments of crisis-such as now- in the summer of 1911- which finds her in her house on Long Island with most of her nine children, their spouses and children and several servants. The action revolves around Joe, the eldest, who lives away from home but wields the power of money over the others; around Larry, the youngest, his mother's pet; around Belle who is recovering from a divorce and narrowly misses a second misalliance; around Minnie, the gossip; Claudie and her husband- the troubled intellectuals; Flora, newly widowed, etc., etc. There are perhaps twenty major characters in the book, each distinct, each alive, providing sorrow and humor and recognition within a well domesticated frame of reference.