cover image Interior Designs

Interior Designs

Margaret Burman. Signet Book, $4.99 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-451-17806-0

This first novel addresses the pathos of Dell and Danny Dannenberg, the husband and wife owners of D&D, a hot New York City interior design firm. She, the child of a junk salesman and a frustated housewife, is a long-legged, comely and insecure redhead; he, shunned early on by his father, who had all-American notions of manhood, is tall, dark and egocentric. He also has an active sexual appetite--sated only for short periods of time by men and women he finds beautiful. The two meet while working at the same firm, plan an extravagant wedding and the grand opening of their new company. Dell soon finds that the honeymoon is over as she spends increasingly more evenings at home alone. By the time she meets Theo Glass, a high-profile architect, Dell is confused enough to have an affair. One night Danny finds his passions could cost him his life's work, Dell and his future. A longtime friend and mentor saves Danny's career, but it's only a matter of time before Dell knows Danny's full story. Burman's prose pays sluggish attention to detail, slowing what intends to be a breezy glimpse of the ``fast life'' to a sometimes laborious study in decadence. (Nov.)