Degrees of Love

A good mother is brought low by well-meaning officials in this first novel, a poignant portrait of a family in crisis. When the youngest of their three children pulls a pot of boiling water off the stove and is severely burned on the leg and feet, parents Lily Sterne and Jack Heliher find that exhaustion, worry and nights in the burn unit are only the beginning of their problems. An E.R. doctor files a complaint that leads to a child-abuse investigation, and the investigation snowballs until baby Katie must be released into state custody, with Lily allowed to see the child only under the supervision of Jack's mother. After a suspenseful, deftly handled climactic court scene, Lily and Jack must deal with the fallout of the incident, their already strained marriage and the troubled reaction of their oldest boy. Basch takes what might have been a grim, newsy subject and spins a rich, surprising page-turner. Readers will be delighted by Basch's flesh-and-blood characters, her beautifully structured chapters and her eloquent insights into both the alchemy of marriage and the hard moments that come with parental love. (Apr.)