Books: Tomboy Sawyer

THE MARBLE ORCHARD (237 pp.) — Margaret Boylen — Random House ($3.50).

"What a swellegant day for a picnic," burbles Ne'er-Do-Weil Ned Claypoole, as the platitudes clatter with the clods over his mother's coffin. But for Ned's 16-year-old daughter Lovey, the April day of deliverance from grandma's tyranny turns heavy with foreboding. Lovey, The Beautiful Blind Girl, can see again—but she has cunningly preserved her three-week secret. For sight regained means Paradise Lost: an end to the antic freedom accorded Lovey by the town, and eviction from the cemetery's marble orchard which, blind, she has been allowed to make her private playground....

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!