Brenda's Gift

This tiresome novel unsuccessfully mimics the structure of Marguerite Yourcenar's A Coin in Nine Hands. Generous and sensitive Brenda, a lovely Irish-American high schooler, gives a book of psalms to slow-witted Will as he heads off to Vietnam in 1966. When Will dies, his father throws the volume in the trash. But never fear--it will not vanish into an incinerator somewhere, because it is protected by a guardian angel called Chosen, who looks after the book and its readers. Mattie, a widowed Jamaican stuffed-cabbage-maker, rescues the book from the dumpster and passes it on to godly Joshua Jericho Jefferson. By 1970, the volume has made its way to Carl, a warmhearted trucker and pinochle player. Carl meets up with Nancy, a young runaway in whom Chosen takes a special interest. She reads Psalm 25 and is inspired to reunite with her parents. In 1973, a vehement atheist named Dieter takes the book from Carl, leaving a $5 bill in its place. And on and on, until the book finally makes its way to the Second Time Around Thrift Store. The device of reader pass-along quickly loses its charm, and Chosen's presence is far from ingratiating, as his constant commentary adds little of substance. The narrative is further hampered by the jarring intrusions of an omniscient, moralistic narrator. (July)