Second Wives

The four Preston sisters--Meg, Beth, Amy and (instead of Jo) Leonora--are a formidable force when it comes to the world of romance, marriage and remarriage. Their mother, emotionally unstable after she accidentally ran over and killed their beloved older brother, died while they were young, and their father was too busy with the demands of his own life and career to be the supportive parent they needed. Now Amy and Meg are married (both are second wives), while Beth, a therapist, has decided that marital unions are more trouble than they're worth. But all the Boston-based sisters rally when 22-year-old Leonora, called Leo, falls in love with a married man 18 years her senior. With snappy dialogue and details of clothing and hairstyles, Blake individualizes her main characters and a roster of supporting players, and takes readers through the spirited sibling bickering of four opinionated women, as well as the daily complications and traumas of modern-day stepfamilies and ex-wives, each of them questioning the dubious staying power of the words ""I do."" What starts out as a chatty tale of three women ready to rescue their baby sister from an ill-advised love affair ends with a chaotic--and ultimately violent--Christmas gathering that includes a dozen or so ""blended"" family members. The awkwardly extended family of upper-middle-class professionals gets a serious reality check when Jackie, ex-wife of Leo's fianc , Nick, invades the holiday gathering brandishing a gun. Blake, an American writer living in London, has published three novels there. In her first U.S. publication, she sticks to a satisfying if predictable trajectory, involving supportive sisters, jilted wives gone loco and a brave woman's quest for enduring love. (July)