BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS

A story of simple dimensions is set in French Canada along the Gaspe coast and while it presents a seldom found picture of French Canadian life, the view is disappointingly flat. Marguerite Dumas, the daughter of a fisherman, is disturbed when her father makes a decision involving a new life for the whole family and becomes part owner of a set of tourist cabins several miles from home. They move there for the season. But Marguerite is so soured by the thought of leaving home and of the tourists who do nothing but stare, that even charming, sensible Philippe cannot soothe her. Climactically, she runs away and only then is brought back, chastened, into the fold. Her unconvincing conversion and her future as Philippe's docile wife leave us wishing there had been more to explain Marguerite's uninteresting character.