REVIEWS

THE COMFORTER, by Dorothy M. Bryant; originally
published by Bench Press, Berkeley, California. Now
published by Random House under the title of The Kin of
Ata Are Waiting for You.
      The Psalmist confidently declares, "If I make my bed
in hell, behold, thou art there." A comforting idea, yes;
but how many of us believe it?
      How many of us actually believe that our acts—no
matter how divorced from good—can be forgiven? How
many of us can see the essence of love in the vilest of
passions? Few, to be sure. When we are confronted with
such ultimate questions, most of us can feel our
"enlightened" attitudes giving way to an irreconcilable
dualism.
      Dorothy M. Bryant has created a remarkable novel
about such questions. Its title, The Comforter, suggests
a religious theme. And perhaps it is, in essence.
However, the reader soon discovers that the title, rather
than being descriptive of the book's contents, is an
adequate description of its proposed effect upon the
reader. In my opinion, the book more than deserves the
title.

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