A TIME TO KEEP

The novelist remembers his childhood in ""our village"" in Transylvania, where Roumanian ways and customs made life colorful and characters exciting. For there was his father who when ""in a passion"" made everyone laugh, his mother who had ""so many tears"", his sister whose patronizing ways were constantly irritating, and the whole world of peasant lore and history to live with. There are stories, and group memories, there are trips, to visit an aunt, to the mountains and the shepherds, there is the hierarchy of village life from kindly, wealthy Popa Radu to the little newcomer, Vasile, the lawyer, the wheelwright, the priest, the teacher -- and always the women with their knowledgable influence. There are sayings and ceremonies, holidays and food, scents and smells and vineyards and farms -- all with the flavor of a strange place and warm friendly people. An unassuming memoir which has the charm of gentle simplicity.