Sabrina

Editorial Review - Kirkus Reviews Girl gets boy (eventually) in this ebullient yet decorous romance involving an attractive upper-middle-class Irish-Catholic family in the years before and immediately after World War I. 'Tis the golden summer of 1913, the latest in a stream of golden summers that seem to have gone on forever for the Heron family. Their substantial home buzzes with children, friends, and relatives as adored Mama plans the life of each of the children and gives the credit to God. One son will manage the estate, another will be a soldier, another a priest, one daughter will marry well, and Sabrina will become a nun. But Sabrina at 16 is lyrically in love with young Garrard and has no intention of taking the veil. She resists Mama (no easy matter) until Garrard's mother brews a malicious scheme which shatters Garrard, sending him off to war and Sabrina off to the convent. The war and some miraculous revelations will embroil Sabrina and her family in tragedy, but our heroine and her Garrard will marry, even if the Heron house, the family, and the golden summers are gone forever. With Irish sea coast and dog-cart ambiance, a most attractive diversion.