Land Girls

As WW II rages in the background, three young city women learn about love and themselves on an English farm. High drama and intense meaning, Huth (Invitation to the Married Life) shows in this charming work, manifest themselves not just in grand battles but also in everyday life. Serving in the Women's Land Army of replacements for farmhands gone to war are Ag Marlowe, a studious Cambridge undergraduate, Prue Lumley, a sexy, working-class hairdresser, and the dreamily romantic Stella Sherwood (who wonders: ""What's the point of life if you're not in love?""). For a year, the three share an attic dormitory at the Lawrence farm in Dorset. Hard outdoor work-daily pre-dawn milking, clipping the hooves and befouled hindquarters of sheep, cleaning the pigsty-is a constant. So is the presence of Joe, the Lawrences' handsome, asthmatic son. The war itself slashes into farm life only occasionally-through the death of one of Prue's friends, through government control of food and clothing-as the emphasis remains on the personal relationships and understandings of the characters. And these characters are fully realized-not just the women but supporting players as well, including the 53-year-old Mr. Lawrence, who, upon first seeing Stella at work, is nearly overpowered by the urge to touch her neck. Here are women and men whom readers will take to their hearts, and a story they will cherish. (June)