Still Waters

A family's mysterious past returns to haunt an English girl between the world wars in this enjoyable but facile effort from the popular Saxton (Harvest Moon). Little Tess Delamere lives in the Norfolk countryside with her doting, widowed dad and their friendly neighbors. The only dark spot on her childhood is Tess's recurring dream about a dimly remembered dreadful experience at the seaside. After she is sent to boarding school at the behest of her father's French fiancee, Marianne, Tess meets handsome, self-centered Ashley Knox, who falls in love with her and reveals secrets about the mother she can't remember. Meanwhile, a world away in Australia, young Mal Chandler is having his own growing pains, trying to lose his shadowy past as assiduously as Tess is trying to regain hers. When WWII intrudes, the two are thrown together and solve each other's mysteries--though their future is thrown into doubt when Mal is taken prisoner and Ashley dances attendance on Tess. Lyrical descriptions of England and convincing detail of cattle-station life in Australia add charm to the tale of this vibrant protagonist. (Mar.)