Shadow Ranch

Returning to the changing landscape of Southern California, Mapson fulfills the promise of her two earlier novels (Hank & Chloe, 1993; Blue Rodeo, 1994), and then some. Six months out of a psychiatric ward, Lainie Carpenter Clarke is still having trouble separating reality from imagination, She and her grandfather, who's one month shy of 80, aren't getting along so well, either. Lainie believes that the filthy rich Bop tries to buy people's souls; she blames him for her committal and she can't quite forgive him for outliving her son, his great-grandson, dead three years. Meanwhile, Lainie's underachieving, guitar-strumming brother hones his skills as a self-saboteur in the realm of romantic love. All three need to find that one force in the world that will make them whole again--if only they could figure out what it is. For Bop at least, it comes partly through Miss Earlynn Sommers, an irrepressible 60-something whom he spots on a TV talk show about former burlesque dancers; with a presence that's equally ditzy and wise, Earlynn is a wonderful creation, a Gracie Allen for the '90s. In Mapson's gifted hands, the themes of love, loss and rebirth become subtly yet generously educational. Her characters ultimately learn to find comfort by turning toward one another--a sentiment that readers will strongly share, not wanting to leave the company of these memorable folk and their engrossing lives. $40,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternate selections; author tour; U.K., first serial, translation rights: Gelfman/Schneider. (Apr.)