The Good Woman

Noted for her storytelling (Greenwillow, etc.), Chute portrays a woman who walks out of her own life and into the persona of a bag lady. Divorced, alone, bored by lunching friends and a distant daughter, Millicent endures a well-appointed, self-justified existence, lately given over to extended sleeping spells. Imagining the freedom a bag lady enjoys, she prepares to become one, dressing appropriately, spending the night near the sheltering lions of the New York Public Library and embarking on city adventures with her incubus, the tough-talking bag lady who is apparently the instrument of Millicent's redemption. The tale is neatly told, but Millicent's stony character, some improbable happenings and a romanticized picture of homeless living make this one of the less engaging of Chute's novels. (October 20)