Books: Old Lady

HARVEST—Selma Lagerlof—Doubleday, Doran ($2.50).

Of all the old ladies who can count their medals few can finger so many that ring true as Selma Lagerlöf (pronounced Lahgerlef). A Swede who, in spite of international temptations, has remained stoutly Scandinavian, she has won her country's Nobel Prize (1909) without the slightest implication of local favoritism. She has written not only an international classic for children (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils) but an international classic for grown-ups (The Ring of the Löwenskölds). She is one of those rare writers whose flavor is not spoiled by...