THE RIVERS ARE FROZEN

This has a rather strange quality and charm, this love story of an American girl and a Basque, living in New York. The girl is somewhat unconventional, with a liking for odd places and people. Her first lover, Pete, goes to Europe to fight; she meets and loves Mikel, one of the circumscribed, tradition loving Basques of downtown New York. She learns -- too late -- that he is married and loves his wife and child, but feels a responsibility towards the child she wants to bear, and gives her funds to go to another city and bring up their child according to his standards. The book is handled so that what sounds unrealistic in the retelling is sympathetic, persuasive, in the writing...Feminine market -- rather a holding tale.