Vicar, 20th Century

THE VICAR'S DAUGHTER--E. H. Young --Harcourt Brace ($2.50).

In 1873 a Boston firm published The Vicar's Daughter "for we need just such simple, pure and cheerful stories here in America, where even the nursery songs are sensational." The modern tale by the same title (copyright presumably expired) at first leads the reader to suspect the vicar of an illegitimate daughter; then it, too, turns out to be a "pure and cheerful" story.

Edward should never have been a vicar anyway, but had drifted by chance into the calling. He married a charming worldly woman, begat a charming naive daughter, and they all lived together in a charming English house. There middle-aged Cousin Maurice descended upon them in body and in nerves. In love with Edward's wife, he was frenzied by the young woman across the street, whom he firmly but wretchedly believed to be Edward's daughter by another woman. He convinces everybody but Edward of the scandal, and is astonished at the loyalty of Edward's unperturbed modern women.

Authoress Young wrote in William a delightful and astute account of modern family life. Her present attempt is less successful, the story thin in spite of engaging characters.