Books: This Swede

JENNY LIND, THE SWEDISH NIGHTINGALE (345 pp.)—Gladys Denny Schultz—Lippincott ($6.50).

When Sweden's Jenny Lind entered New York Harbor on a paddle-wheel steamer in 1850, P.T. Barnum went out in a rowboat to greet her, carrying a spray of red roses in his arms. She was a plain young woman of 29, hair parted in the middle. Her nose was a Nordic spud. She had a wide mouth, and she wore no cosmetics. But she was the most celebrated operatic soprano in the world, and a few days later a man bid $225 to buy...