The Whole Wide Beauty

In this stirring debut, the indefatigable David Freeman struggles to maintain his faltering poetry foundation while his daughter, Katherine, adrift after giving up life as a dancer to become a wife, mother, and part-time music teacher, strives to regain a sense of herself. David is a charismatic dynamo when it comes to his work, but he is far removed from his family, in part because of a long-held secret. When Katherine begins a wild affair with married-with-children poet Stephen Jericho, the couple's passion for each other reawakens them both: Stephen progresses with his epic poem and Katherine breaks through her numbing inertia. Meanwhile, David is diagnosed with cancer, which spurs him even more to find a deep-pocketed philanthropist for the foundation, while drawing him farther away from his family. Katherine's sudden admission of her affair to her parents becomes an unlikely bridge to reconnection, but she still must choose between Stephen and her husband. Though Woof's English characters outwardly maintain the stiffest of upper lips, their tumultuous inner worlds make for a sensuous, moving drama of love and family. (May)