Pieces of April: Pieces of April

Haeger (Angel Bride) bases her family saga on an ill-fated, abiding love. In the 1950s, the Nob Hill beauty Isabelle Maguire falls in love with her childhood friend, the housekeeper's son Stephen Donnelly, who, to make matters worse, is now a priest. Stephen decides to renounce his vows but it is too late; Isabelle's unforgiving father sequesters her in Scotland where she gives birth to Stephen's child. The child, Glenna Rose, is torn from Isabelle's arms, and given up for adoption to an abusive family. By the time mother and daughter meet again, Glenna has a teenager of her own. The story, encompassing four generations, is essentially one of reunion, and while any single section of it is well written and filled with pathos and likable characters, the focus of the book is scattered, with various plotlines merely pulled together--like piecework. (July)