Wings in the Snow

Philadelphia plastic surgeon Theo Tithonus is jarred from his complacent, busy life by a succession of personal and professional crises in this warm but somewhat predictable novel. Theo's elderly father, a diabetic, won't follow his insulin regime; his sisters are scheming to get the father's second wife out of the will; Theo's lover, Sam, is feeling increasingly neglected; a villainous lover from Theo's past threatens to undermine his future at the hospital; and, most importantly, Theo's medical partner, Dr. Susan Zack, is demanding that he acknowledge and become a presence in the life of their six-year-old daughter, Natalia, a child conceived through artificial insemination. When Susan, exhausted from the dual responsibilities of her practice and motherhood, drops Natalia at Theo's door, the absentminded doctor must look beyond his work and pay attention to the people tied to him by blood and by love. Oliver (Closing Distance) writes crisp, funny dialogue that establishes his characters' intimacy and affection for one another, and Theo's exchanges with the evil Dr. Garlington are like a well-choreographed Hollywood sword fight--the hero delivers the most damaging blows. But Theo's inevitable bonding moment with his daughter (while making snow angels) comes about with unbelievable speed, driven more by its own forced metaphor than by any logic internal to the plot. (Sept.)