IN THE CASTLE OF THE FLYNNS

Raleigh's gentle new novel follows two years in the life of young Danny Dorsey. Orphaned in 1954 when he is seven, Danny is taken in by his extended Irish-American family. Though raised by all his relatives, he lives with his grandparents in the rambling house they rent on Chicago's North Side—the "Castle of the Flynns." In the years that follow his parents' car crash, Danny mourns his loss but slowly adapts to a new life, as do all the relatives who help to raise him. Danny spends his summer days with Grandpa Flynn or Grandma Dorsey and explores the neighborhood with his cousin Matt, while at school his Aunt Teresa helps him settle down to his studies. Little drama propels this tale of ordinary pleasures, but what there is resides in the adventures of those around Danny, particularly in his uncle's pursuit of another man's girlfriend. That courtship leads to the novel's climax, a Labor Day baseball game rendered as a duel between Uncle Tom and his rival, Philly Clark. Raleigh, the author of five detective novels, chooses to tell this story in the style of a memoir. The prose is relaxed (too relaxed), the story loosely structured (too often the novel cranks unremittingly through the calendar), and there is little tension. Closing the book, the reader might feel a favorite uncle has spent too much time regaling him or her with windy but fond memories. There are, however, many tender characters lovingly depicted, and those readers who know Chicago's North Side may enjoy Raleigh's evocation of that neighborhood in the '50s. (Feb.)