Marriages

This new novel by the author of Traditions focuses on three long-separated childhood friends who meet to celebrate their 40th birthdays. Joanna seems to have it alla glamorous career, a handsome, wealthy husband, a beautiful daughter. Sara is the domestic one, her identity tied to her children and her professor husband's achievements. Dean has used his long-standing homosexual relationship to escape the rejections he encountered as an actor. All three believe themselves content, until a devastating automobile accident mars their reunion and forces them to reexamine their lives. The women's marriages and Dean's relationship come under intense scrutiny. Each of the three comes to realize that in some way he or she has relinquished personal responsibility, and thus forfeited personal satisfaction. This is an intelligent, often compelling novel, in which realistic characters deal with practical problems. The major characters necessarily undergo changes during the course of the story, and it is to Ebert's credit that none of them is provided with a pat solution. (January 15)