Tunnel of Love

Wolitzer's fans will be pleased by her latest, in which she revives characters she developed previously in Hearts for an entertaining slice of a woman's life that is forever bordering on chaos. Widowed and pregnant Linda Reismann and stepdaughter Robin arrive in L.A. from Newark to make a new start. Linda bounces episodically between jobs (she has to quit work as a dance instructor once her pregnancy begins to show); boyfriends (one is murdered in his liquor store); and mishaps (she breaks several limbs in a car accident). Robin meanwhile moves through a fragmented world of her own, including shoplifting, heavy metal and racial tensions affecting a friendship. Once Linda is employed, and eventually taken care of after her accident, by wealthy--and, we ultimately learn--conniving Beverly Hills divorcee Cynthia, however, the plot becomes more traditionally shaped, involving Cynthia's somewhat unlikely scheme to gain custody of Linda's baby and Robin's somewhat confusing (if one hasn't read Hearts ) visit to her real mother in Arizona. The abruptly switching points of view from 28-year-old Linda to teenaged Robin--each of whom is smart and insightful in her own way--is effective and often very funny, especially when the same character or situation is described in vividly different detail. Linda, good-hearted, vulnerable and largely overwhelmed by her ever-changing, ever-complicated life, is handled sympathetically yet also playfully by the author. Robin, more feisty and rebellious, is also presented with genuine familiarity. A fast-paced, witty and generally credible novel that touches base with real events such as the L.A. riots and the Clinton campaign. Literary Guild an d Doubleday Book Club alternates; major ad/promo; author tour. (May)