An Episode of Sparrows

<p><b>By the author of <i>Black Narcissus </i>and <i>The River</i></b><br><br>''A masterpiece of construction and utterly realistically convincing'' JACQUELINE WILSON<br>''Godden''s rich understanding of human nature, her humor and her beautiful prose inevitably leave one aglow'' CHICAGO TRIBUNE <br>''Godden here tries her deft writing hand at landscaping a child''s heart'' <i>TIME</i><br><br><i>***<br></i><br>Someone has been digging up the private garden in the Square. Miss Angela Chesney of the Garden Committee is sure that a gang of local boys is to blame, but her sister, Olivia, isn''t so sure. She wonders why the neighbourhood children - ''sparrows'' she calls them - have to be locked out: don''t they have a right to enjoy the garden too?<br><br>Nobody has any idea what sends Lovejoy Mason and her few friends in search of ''good garden earth''. Still less do they imagine where their investigation will lead them - to a struggling restaurant, a bombed-out church, and, at the heart