cover image To Fly a Kite

To Fly a Kite

Elizabeth Webster. St. Martin's Press, $15.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-312-00207-7

In this ineptly written romantic novel, Ellie Foster, who has been rejected by her parents after she suffered a crippling sports accident, seeks a new family. One day she climbs over the wall of the nursing home in which she's been confined because the British welfare authorities can't find a more suitable place for her. Wandering through neighboring gardens, she's entranced on hearing Chopin waltzes. Ross Mallory, the pianist, sees Ellie and begins to fall in love with her. Ross, however, is himself an invalid. In the midst of a brilliant early career, he suffered a heart attack that not only crippled one of his hands but paralyzed his will as well. Not surprisingly, the love that grows between these two social misfits cures them of their emotional and physical handicaps. Webster (Bracken writes for very unsophisticated readers. (January 2)