THE SECOND COMING OF LUCY HATCH

Plangent with sorrow, wonder and hope, this is an immensely appealing novel about a woman who finds love the second time around. Suddenly widowed at 33 after 14 years of a barren, passionless marriage to a laconic farmer, Lucy Hatch Breward returns to her hometown of Mooney, Tex. Sparks fly when she meets hunk and ladies' man Ash Farrell, who's a carpenter extraordinaire by day and a seductive singer/guitar player who belts out country songs at the town honky-tonk, the Round-Up, at night. Guilt-ridden because she cannot mourn her husband's death, Lucy is reluctant to respond to Ash's blandishments. A classic situation ensues: he pursues, she resists; he pursues, she succumbs (during a heavy rain storm, and again and again... )—all in the full glare of town gossip. As the story of Lucy's psychological and emotional bewilderment and her gradual coming of age develops, first novelist Moyer seduces the reader with pitch-perfect prose fed by an observant eye and a wise heart. If some of the situations are the stuff of women's magazine fiction, Moyer is capable of sweet and insightful writing about the power of love to transcend grief. The dialogue is sharp and wry, with an authentic country twang, and humor is provided by colorful secondary characters whose only fault is that they're all excessively decent and kindhearted—but maybe that's the way people are in East Texas. On the other hand, Lucy's attempts to reconcile her past and future are realistically portrayed, granting her full dimensionality and emotional resonance. Agent, Barbara Braun. (Aug. 14)