Homeward Bound

The SS Karachi , steaming from Bombay to England just after WW I, is the mise-en-scene for this formulaic, though entertaining, novel by the author of A Season of Goodwill. Captain Angus Meiklejohn, faithful to his wife and burdened by concern for his shell-shocked son in Scotland, seems an unlikely candidate for shipboard romance. Yet, before the 25-day trip ends, he has a liaison with an attractive young widow in first class. The ship's doctor, Edmund Bladon, his professional and personal prospects blighted by his conscientious-objector status during the war, also has a strange romance, thwarted by violence, with one of two convent-schooled sisters given to religious hyperventilation. Much goes on below decks as well, from sabotage to heroism, especially that of an Irish steward who expurgates his anti-English feelings. Characters from stowaways to diplomats come to turning points in their lives before the beleaguered ``ship of fools'' makes home port. (Nov.)