People in Trouble

In a witty, angry and anguished novel, set in an almost-real contemporary New York City, Kate and Molly are having an affair. Kate, an artist, still loves husband Peter and wants the two parts of her love life to somehow peacefully coexist. They won't--Peter feels jealous; Molly, neglected. The triangle is played out as AIDS kills hundreds; homelessness and hunger are as ubiquitous as Ronald Horne, a cold-blooded, homophobic real-estate mogul with political aspirations. At the end of their ropes, the AIDS activists who constitute the group Justice decide that they've got nothing to lose. Molly first, then Kate, become involved in Justice's inventive schemes of civil disobedience. At times lapsing into melodrama, Schulman ( After Delores ) carefully balances the story lines, using Kate's own sexual awareness and awakening as a benchmark for the situation of the besieged homosexual community. (Jan.)