cover image Laugh Lines

Laugh Lines

Ann Berk. Random House (NY), $17.95 (244pp) ISBN 978-0-394-55644-4

Georgie, Suzanne and Beth were fast friends in college. Now with two more decades tucked under their waistbands, the lifeline between them draws taut mainly when a crisis pops up. Beth, a stunning beauty and syndicated columnist who's just been tapped for TV, is tired of trying on and casting off men like so many gloves. Suzanne, a single mother, is art director at an ad agency that's just been swallowed by a bigger fish. And obese Georgie is unhappy with the conventional path her life has taken ever since an affair of the heart went badly wrong. Berk ( Fast Forward ) flirts with emotional issues--betrayal between friends, a child given up for adoption, fear of getting old alone--but sabotages each serious moment with flippant humor. Though funny in spots, this contemporary novel is disappointing. When the weight of time and expectations threatens to crush the protagonists, Berk provides only glib solutions. (Apr.)