La Divina

As this thinly disguised fictionalization of the public and private lives of Maria Callas opens, world-renowned soprano Athena Varos, ``La Divina,'' suffers heartbreak. Her lover, Greek shipping magnate Manolis Zakarias, has ended their affair to marry the most eligible woman in America. But not to worry--it doesn't give much away to say that La Divina (unlike Callas) will triumph in the end. Edwards, who previously mixed fact and fiction in Wallis: The Novel , seems primarily concerned with conveying her admiration for Callas in this uneasy amalgam of picaresque novel, jet-set romance and sensationalist tabloid, spiced far too infrequently with inside glimpses of the opera world and brief discourses on the great diva roles. The reader is more intrigued by trying to unravel the factual precedent to scenes and characters than by the central drama--in this case an oversimplified version of the real thing. The novel's most dramatic speech is recited by Manolis's factotum as he struggles to explain his own relationship with the millionaire. Though it seems inadvertent on the author's part, this kind of upstaging frequently derails the narrative. (Feb.)