A HOLE IN THE HEART

Pudgy, diffident and insecure, the protagonist of this witty, offbeat first novel struggles to put her life back together after the death of her husband in a climbing accident on Mt. McKinley. Celestine "Bean" Jessup is at loose ends when she graduates from college; she finally moves from San Francisco to teach in Eyad, Alaska, a tiny south coastal village. Bean struggles with the harsh conditions during her initial teaching stint, but life takes a turn for the better when she meets the handsome, athletic Mick, a goofy, relentless optimist whom she quickly recognizes as her soul mate. Despite her initial satisfaction, Bean has a hard time adapting to marital happiness. Then Mick falls to his death after bad weather sets in during a landmark climb with his buddies. Devastated by her loss and her subsequent discovery of Mick's affair with her libidinous best friend, Lois, Bean finds herself living with Mick's mother, Hanna Linder, who moves up the coast from Vancouver and settles in after the funeral. Their strange domestic arrangement becomes a long-term deal, and Hanna eventually accompanies Bean back to San Francisco. Romance enters the picture when Hanna buys some furniture at an auction and the deliveryman, Bob, becomes smitten with Bean, but Bob's tendency to push the dating pace backs Bean into a corner. The twists and turns in the plot are deftly executed, and Marquis's ironic, compassionate humor tempers the pathos of Bean's hangdog existence. Like Anne Tyler, Marquis has a knack for creating hapless characters who radiate humanity. (Aug.)

Forecast:Marquis, a reporter at the Washington bureau of the New York Times, was chosen by Book Magazine as one of "Ten Writers to Watch" in 2003, and is a likely handselling pick.