The Way Home

Old secrets and all-too-current class warfare are the motivations in this latest book by the author of Between the Lines. After a long absence, the nationally renowned African American attorney, Marlena Rhodes, has headed south to her home town of Gaines. A child from the wrong side of the tracks, she finds that little has changed in the divided town and Gaines' black elite is as insular as ever. One exception is Winston Taylor, Marlena's ex-fiance. He's determined to bring Marlena back home, both as part of a program called ""The Way Home"" aimed at bringing Gaines natives back, but also because he's clearly still in love with her. Another candidate for relocation, Marty Jones, also threatens to upset the life of Marlena's best friend Cheryl Morgan, the divorced mother of yet another young woman tormented by the class divide. The big problem is that instead of action, there is talk and most of that sounds like it's culled from the minutes of an AA meeting: ""Let's talk about this some more;"" or ""Did you tell her again how it makes you feel when Tim drops in for a few days?"" Benson has done better. (Mar.)