After Shanghai

McLeay's richly atmospheric novels are always in the service of a good story, and her latest (after The Dream Maker) is again an involving read as she evokes two cultures and a woman torn between them. During the first two decades of the 20th century, when her father manages the Oriental branch of the Oliver shipping line, Clio Oliver is raised in the exotic, luxurious atmosphere of a large Shanghai mansion. It's not until she finds herself back in England upon the death of her grandfather, the family patriarch, that she encounters the rest of her family, including two black sheep--her disinherited aunt and her bastard cousin Stephen. Her grandmother Kate's later attempts to bring Stephen into the fold are met with strong resistance by Clio's brother, Guy, the heir apparent, and with unhealthy love by her favorite cousin, Alice; there will be momentous consequences in all their lives. During an ill-starred flirtation with her sultry Aunt Margot's Russian gigolo, Clio meets stolid Ewan McLennan, whom she marries and who, ironically, brings her back to Shanghai. There she discovers the emptiness of her marriage and experiences the fullness of her love for Stephen and the beginning of the Japanese occupation. Clio stays with Ewan but must ultimately choose between duty to family and the call of personal fulfillment. Key to this novel's appeal is the nostalgic tone in which Clio describes the vicissitudes of her life and her hard-won philosophy of surmounting pain. That she finally finds happiness is no less touching for being predictable. (Aug.)