+ MacINNES, COLIN. _Absolute Beginners._ London, MacGibbon & Rae, 1959. A novel about London teen-agers, told in Soho idiom—a sort of bastard hip-talk. The characters in this novel include several male homosexuals, and one lesbian, Big Jill. Enough space is devoted to social problems, by an author who is quite obviously one of the “angry young men”, to give this novel real status. McMINNIES, MARY. _The Visitors._ Harcourt, Brace 1958. A diplomat’s wife abroad, fancying herself as Madame Bovary, attempts to use everyone around her for her own purposes. She has an affair with an American correspondent and also captivates Sophie, a countess, and an extremely well-portrayed character. One of the most sympathetic portraits of a lesbian in recent fiction, as well as a ruthless portrayal of women who enjoy flirting in both fields. + MAHYERE, EVELINE. _I Will not Serve._ Dutton 1959, 1960. This book, boycotted by many major reviewers, was written by a young Frenchwoman who committed suicide before its publication. Precocious, nonconformist Sylvie has been expelled from a convent for writing, in a letter, that she loves one of the nuns. The story deals with the unfolding pattern of Sylvie’s meetings with Julienne, an older novice in the convent. The conflict is clear; Sylvie’s creed is “I will not serve”—a statement of her refusal to become a good wife and mother—and she wants nothing of life but Julienne. Julienne, has given herself to God. Refusing to accept this, Sylvie commits suicide. The book is profound and sincere, and on the basis of this one work the author’s premature death was a loss to the field of literature. MAINE, CHARLES ERIC. _World Without Men._ pbo, Ave Books 1958. Science fiction of a world thousands of years in the future, where the men have all died out, reproduction is scientific and the women, having no one else to love, love one another. In defiance of all conceivable theories of heredity and environment, a few women still think this state of affairs is “unnatural” and band together to create a male birth, assuming everyone will turn normal overnight. Silly. MALLET, FRANÇOISE. _The Illusionist._ (Trans. by Herma Briffault). Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1952 tct _The Loving and the Daring_, Popular 1953. (pbr). Now well-known novel, by a young French writer, of a girl captivated by her father’s mistress. _The Red Room._ (trans. by Herma Briffault). Farrar, Strauss & Cudahy 1956, pbr Popular 1958. Sequel to the above.