Party Pieces

The always timely story of a politician's wife is the subject of MacAndrew's second novel (after Passing Places). Proper Lady Charlotte Brand, 47, wife of Sir Robin Brand, Conservative MP and Minister for Youth, learns from a Radio Thames reporter that her husband, a vocal proponent of family values, has abruptly resigned his position after being exposed in print as a philanderer and hypocrite. A model politician's spouse (right down to her drinking problem), Charlotte has to decide whether or not to stand by her mate. MacAndrew shifts rapidly between the present aftermath of Robin's disgrace and the past, beginning in 1968 when 21-year-old Charlotte, on the rebound from a devastating romance, accepted the ambitious Robin's marriage proposal. On their New York honeymoon, while he furthered his political aspirations, Robin left Charlotte in the company of Martin Fable, a freelance journalist. Martin became the love of her life-and the source of her guilt, which involves a car accident of the genus Chappaquiddick. Despite dense plotting and awkward time shifts, the pace stays brisk, with plenty of English dry wit brightening the tone. Ultimately, it's the characterization of quietly compelling Charlotte, who climbs out from under the shelter of her stiff upper lip to face her past and take control of her life, that drives the novel to its bittersweet, resolution. (Nov.)