Month of Sundays

Humor and drive saved Samantha Bartholomew when, pregnant with her second child, she was deserted by her darkly romantic English professor husband David. The same characteristics mark this first novel, which begins 10 years after those off-camera events. Samantha has moved from Boston to Southern California and married Roger Caldwell, when David comes, for the first time, to spend some time with his children--sullen, bright Rebecca, a teenager, and easy-going, surf-happy Jason. David's presence awakens Samantha's memories of their love and her rage, catalyzes bristly Rebecca's fantasies and resentments and, to straightforward Jason, is at first a series of entertainments. With authority and affection, Martin, who wrote Mrs. Kamali Would Like to Speak to You About Cloud: Notes from a California Classroom , develops her characters in a lively plot that falters only at its somewhat unprepared-for resolution. This auspicious fiction debut will leave readers eager for more of Martin's wry, on-target observations of contemporary mores. 20,000 first printing; $20,000 ad/promo. (Oct.)