Grandmother and the Comet: An Insubstantial Pageant

Subtitled an Insubstantial Pageant, this is a potpourri of delicately, deftly styled short stories, autobiographical reminiscences, verses, with a range of humor, poignancy, fantasy and consistent grace. There are the insecurities, jealousies, defeats of childhood; marriages -- and failures; character family servants; the artist and his Galatea; the English uncle, a vicar, who lost his only chance through a son. Not important but pleasant reading, drawn from the New Yorker, Harper's Victoria Lincoln is the author of February Hill. --Kirkus Reviews