Dark Deeds, Sweet Songs: A Journal of Sorts

Tenney's debut novel, a heartfelt but unfocused tale primarily about a frustrated housewife's relationship with a man of ``childlike'' qualities, is notable for its unusual format, in which narrative prose alternates with dialogue presented in playscript form. (The author's background includes many years as an actress, screenwriter and theater manager.) Narrator Blair Stewart recounts her early love for acting, and her whirlwind romance and marriage to fellow actor Leonard. In the mid-1970s, Leonard moves his wife and children from Manhattan to Falls Village, Conn. Blair, lonely in this rural community, is drawn to ``walking scarecrow'' Collin Williams, and soon invites him to move in with the Stewarts. Over the next 20 years, Collin becomes Blair's confidant, gardener and houseman; during this time, Blair returns to the stage, in regional theater. Surprising revelations about Collin teach Blair some hard lessons about herself, and others. Although Blair is a sympathetic character, her story doesn't cohere. Torn between accounts of her yearnings as an actress and the tale of her relationship with Collin, the narrative reads choppily, even haphazardly, its disjointed quality accentuated by the unusual format. The knowledge that comes to Blair (for example, that ``all diseases... might have been brought on by lack of faith in ourselves and in others'') seems troweled on, as if to give this novel a cohesiveness it otherwise lacks. Author tour. (Sept.)