THE WEATHER BREEDER

In soft, sentient prose, and with considerable delicacy of feeling, this conveys the cultural conflict of Indian-blooded, American-bred Noepe Sanctuary, her traditional status between her own people and the white people on the island where she lives, the disparity between her instinctive inheritance and her acquired education. Over the timespan of a summer, Noepe is not to find acceptance or assimilation. As a servant in the house of Judge Field, she is a close friend of his daughter until their mutual attraction to Adam Munson engenders hostility between them. Noepe leaves for the house of the Whitestones, only to find herself involved in another form of discrimination, as Whitestone, a war casualty and a Jew, is victimized by Adam Munson's whispering campaign. At the close, Noepe returns to her own people, having decided to marry Tallman Pine who has always loved her... The gentleness of manner here and the handling of the conflict in cultures gives this its distinction, rather than importance for a wide audience.