Relative Distances

The characters in screenwriter Jenkins's short, stunning debut novel play out a primal drama of love, sexual obsession, jealousy and remorse against a backdrop of Wyoming's azure skies, rolling hills, sagebrush and badlands. Independent-minded Myra Wells, 36, quits her job in a mine and goes to work for her cousin Arlen, the dour, red-bearded rancher she has long secretly loved. But Arlen is married and also has a ``pear-shaped'' mistress. Spurned, Myra falls for Arlen's sensitive son, Neal. The plucky heroine's son, Tom, who also works on the ranch, is torn apart to see Neal romancing his mother. The shocking denouement brings the disintegration of many lives. Suffused with a wild, ragged spirit, this fiercely lyrical story is about the costs of living for the moment, about how ``you can't go home again'' and how a lifetime's illusions can be built around a few charged encounters. (Aug.)