Aspects of Love

Garnett's (1892-1981) frothy romantic diversion, first published in England in 1955, is a graceful tale of Oedipal tensions, shared secrets, violent shocks and theatricality. Recently expelled from school, Alexis, a hotheaded young Englishman, has enlisted in the army. He takes as his lover beautiful, bitchy French actress Rose Vibert, but she ditches him to marry his uncle, baronet-poet Sir George Dillingham. Many years later, the Dillinghams' 13-year-old daughter Jenny falls madly for Alexis; Rose, meanwhile, beds a 20-year-old in a menage a trois. Jealousies and passions wax and wane as we hop from Paris to Venice to French wine country, yet the story, for all its psychological nuances, does not rise much above the level of melodrama. An Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on the novel is scheduled to open in New York next April. Literary Guild alternate. (Dec.)