The Yearling

The scene of Mrs. Rawlings's new novel is inland Florida, the wild and beautiful "hammock" country which she first made known to American readers in South Moon Under. In the hammock country live a breed of Americans that it is hard to surpass. Proud, self-reliant, industrious, forever struggling against the encroachments of the tropical forest and the raids of wild beasts, their lives are hard, but full of the experiences that make living worth while.

It is with the Baxters, one of these hammock-country families, that The Yearling is concerned. One year of their lives is spanned in the book a year brim full of event and incident, of drama, conflict, tragedy, humor and beauty. The Baxters are three- Penny Baxter, the father, a little man but a mighty hunter; his stout, hard-working wife; and twelve-year-old Jody, "the yearling," around whom the story centers. But there is a fourth- another yearling- who plays quite as poignant a part in the story as the humans "Flag," Jody's pet fawn, taken from the side of its dead mother in one of the many unforgettable scenes in the book.

There are other vivid characters in the story the Forresters, an unruly, bearded, lawless tribe; wise and winning Grandma Hutto; old Slewfoot, the wily bear, whose pursuit and death take on the high courage and daring of the quest for some legendary monster but the book belongs to the Baxters, and to Jody.

It is a story that every one will enjoy for its people are altogether human and lovable. And beyond the breathless beauty of its physical background and the stirring scenes in which the tale abounds there is a spiritual meaning which gives the whole nar-rative a special quality and makes reading it a unique experience.