HALFWAY HOME

This debut by the daughter of Sidney Sheldon, an innocuous drama of mothers and daughters, is too prim to qualify as a guilty pleasure, which may be to its credit. 40-something Alexis Donleavys seems to have it all—a brilliant career as an interior designer, a successful husband, a fabulous Manhattan apartment. But she is haunted by memories of her mother, Maggie, the flamboyant actress who abandoned her when she was a little girl. When Alexis is nearly assaulted by a gang of teenagers, she returns to the scene of the crime (a home for troubled youths) to "teach them about beautiful things." There she encounters sensitive outsider Linda, whom Alexis takes under her wing. Meanwhile, in Paris, Maggie recounts her life story to a reporter: her meager childhood, her affair with a married man, her marriage into a wealthy family and her rise to stardom. Alexis flashes back to her own girlhood—especially the tug-of-war between her imperious grandmother and free-spirited Maggie over her upbringing—and, later, the death of her own six-year-old daughter, Elise. Maggie comes off as selfish and more than a little foolish and her autobiography threatens to nudge out the real story: Alexis's relationship with Linda, which is touching, though it, too, obviously hinges on old tragedies. Still, both women are likable enough that readers won't mind the ham-handed psychology and the ending left wide open for a sequel. Agent, Dorris Halsey.(Apr. 3)

Forecast: Fans of Sidney (who, along with Kirk Douglas and Barbara Eden, supplies a blurb) will come looking for the kind of dirt dad dishes, but they won't find it here, which could depress sales down the road.