Ribstone Pippins

Originally published in Britain in 1974, this delicate, intricately plotted, presumably autobiographical novel of manners describes the sexual awakening of young Helen Wykham through an extended letter to a lover. The beginning is slow, and the narrator is at times maddeningly indirect and abstract (""He took time away with him, and identity, and all delimiting design, and spread it out, formless and irrelevant, upon the keyboard...""). Wykham manages to combine insight and page-turning momentum, however, as she recounts how young Helen discovers her lesbian nature. Sent by her much-married mother to Dublin for Horse Show week, shy Helen is invited to stay in the home of the SanFe family. There, she encounters layers of often ugly secrets, many centering on the SanFe heir, Laurence, ominously titled ""the Dominic."" The house is a tinderbox of consummated and frustrated sexual desire, and thanks to another guest, a mysterious French woman, Helen comes to terms with her own longings. Helen's searingly honest self-appraisal and her ripping sarcasm make her a sympathetic character, though one with a darker side. Solid characterizations and intriguing vignettes of social game-playing contribute to a wry, engaging read. (Mar.)