Love Lessons

With her husband's affair an ``open secret'' in her Georgia hometown, Lyn Whitaker divorced him after almost 40 years of marriage. Now she discovers that even her best friends consider her a social liability. Yet interest runs high when Lyn is seen with Jason Adams, the handsome, semi-retired architect who has moved in next door. Jason, also just free of an unsatisfactory marriage, coaches Lyn on computer use when her rusty skills prove inadequate for the job market (and her alimony inadequate for the bills). He sees Lyn as the affectionate woman he has yearned for. But divorce has changed Lyn, who may not want to go back to being the traditional kind of wife she once was--the kind Jason apparently wants. Lyn is also troubled by her friends, who are in a collective sulk because she's managing without their meddling. While Lyn's problems ultimately resolve themselves rather too neatly, Oaks's ( To Love Again ) entertaining but generally lightweight work gains an element of depth simply by touching on the problems that face older women who find themselves alone for the first time, and by raising related issues, such as the anger and regret that accompany the end of a long marriage. (Nov.)