Birthstone

Although it stands on its own, this lively page-turner chronicles five years of professional and personal ups and downs of the Wyman family introduced in Triplets . Only two of the triplets are still alive: Vail, a film critic, and Sara, a director. Two people arrive on the scene who can disrupt their lives and that of their strong-willed mother, Diana: the deranged fan who murdered actress Sky (Vail and Sara's sister) and now hounds the Wymans on his return from prison, and Sara's daughter Lindy. Lindy too is back from prison and treatment in mental facilities for having killed her lover Archie as a teenager. Her son from that affair has been adopted by Vail and his wife Patsy and believes Lindy is dead. Lindy's experiences have made her as tough as she is intelligent, and she begins building a career as an assistant to the brilliant but temperamental director Fletcher Avery. However, it turns out that Archie's ghost is yet to be laid to rest, and the Wyman clan will be further battered and exposed to unwelcome publicity before healing their wounds and becoming a real family. (Dec.)