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NY 1988 1st (American) Grove. 8vo., hardcover. Fine in Fine DJ.

A gaggle of lost, loopy expatriates cluster in Verona, Italy, the setting of this funny, bittersweet novel by an English writer ( Loving Roger , Tongues of Flame ) who himself lives in Verona. Julia Delaforce flees London partly to escape a 12-year affair with a married man, partly to expunge her guilt over an abortion. When she allows Sandro, a lazy Canadian Don Juan, to move into the flat she shares with Flossy, a militant feminist, it's obvious trouble lies ahead. Told mostly in letters full of gossipy backbiting, the novel exudes a sunny Italian lightheartedness that belies its serious intent. Cluttered with characters like Professoressa Bertelli, a paranoid academic, and Alan Bexley, an insufferable, high-minded writer, the story deepensand darkenswith Julia's sudden leap into maturity after her mother's stroke. Julia learns just in time that a life unlived exacts a terrible vengeance, a lesson lost on the self-seekers around her. The constantly shifting viewpoints multiply the smart comic touches.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In Verona, Italy, where she teaches English, 33-year-old British expatriate Julia Delaforce befriends a circle of endearingly neurotic companions who all live in perpetual crisis. She is a rock of stability compared with Sandro, infamous for his indiscriminate sexual conquests; Alan, a compulsive, aspiring novelist; and Flossy, his tough, man-hating, feminist sister. Julia maintains sanity while revealing her true feelings through an exchange of letters with her best friend, Diana, and her infantile but amusing brother, Michael. Once again, Parks ( Tongues of Flame , LJ 2/15/87, and Loving Roger , LJ 10/15/87) has created a hi larious, touching, and brilliantly perceptive study of the delicate, elusive subtleties of human relationships.Ronald L. Coombs, SUNY Health Science Ctr. Lib., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.