The Wines of Pentagoet

Fans of Gould's No Other Place will lap up this sequel. The beautiful Elzada Knight is now, in the 1660s, married to Capt. Alonzo Plaice and living in Morning River in ""the Maine,'' while her Boston trading businesses are still run by the crafty James Mavryck. The governor of Quebec plots to extend French influence into Maine, while the royal governor of ``the Bostons'' tries to stir up trouble with the French and Indians. Mavryck enlists Elzada, ``Cap'n 'Lon,'' the worldly Father Hermidore, ``Manny the Portugee'' (now a rich grandee), French nobleman Saint-Castain (living with the Tarrantine Indians) and various others in a delicious scheme that will keep Maine safe from both the British and the French. The characters are delightfully quirky, and along the way we're treated to lore about how people cooked, dressed, sailed and worked along the Maine coast in the 17th century, interpolated in graceful, chatty style. (April 28)