A quiet, sensitive, close textured novel, "Truth and Consequence." It deals with the diverse events of a single day; its numerous characters are all sharply defined; its phrasing is precise and economical; and its parts come together to make a unified total effect that may be remember with satisfaction after the book is closed.

The central figure is 13-year-old Geraldine….

But the narrative, while centering on Geraldine, switches quietly from character to character, and ranges up and down the street. The fussy housewife; the blind old man; the high school girl miserable in love with her math teacher; the anxious young mother protecting her precocious son; the young wife restless in her infidelity; the mad widow awaiting the return of her husband—these are some of the persons whose common day is here subtly, significantly revealed.

Into certain of their lives this day brings partial or tentative resolution...