NO WIDER THAN THE HEART

Surgeon Christopher Barton, whose wife had died and who had lost a patient through negligence, comes to start again- as a general practitioner- on the island of Biscay off the North Carolina mainland. So does Julia Kirkwood, whose emotional state also needs some doctoring, after an unnatural marriage which had ended in a shooting. Pneumonia makes her Christopher's patient- and he falls in love with her, marries her, but never succeeds in breaking through her silence over her past. The community too is pretty uncommunicative-resenting the doctor they need but have gotten along without, until his handling of a smallpox outbreak wins their confidence. And Julia too finally clears away old doubts and continuing fears.... If no wider than, certainly no deeper- but it's feminine fiction with a sure situation and sleek touches. Rentals.