cover image CITY OF GHOSTS

CITY OF GHOSTS

Johanna Stoberock, . . Norton, $23.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-393-05172-8

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CITY OF GHOSTSJohanna Stoberock. Norton, $23.95 (320p) ISBN 0-393-05172-2

No matter how far you go, you can't escape yourself. That, at least, is what Stoberock's protagonist Isabel discovers when she winds up in Nepal married to her best friend's lover. Isabel has known Anna since she was seven. From the moment they met, Anna was the leader and Isabel the follower. More than 20 years later, they are roommates in New York City, where Anna is a lawyer and Isabel manages an import store. As the novel begins, Anna is about to set off on a yearlong trip around the world. Before she leaves, she falls in love with Danny, a guide who leads treks in Nepal and is in New York on business. They part with plans to meet in Nepal, but once Anna is gone, Danny slips into Isabel's bed, and just a few months later, they are married. In Nepal, they settle into Danny's apartment in an old palace. Danny seems to love Isabel, but Isabel has all too much time to ponder exactly why she married him, and what it says about her relationship with Anna. Complicating matters is the fallout from the recent death of Anna's brother, who was Isabel's boyfriend for many years. Matters come to a head on a dramatic trek in Nepal, when Anna and Isabel finally face off. Stoberock's understated prose mitigates her overheated premise, and she astutely describes the effects of buried resentment. The novel's pacing is uneven, however, and the characterizations of Danny and Isabel are cloudy. Stoberock clearly knows Nepal well, but the picture she paints of it never quite springs to life. The same might be said of this artful but listless novel. (Mar.)