The Congressman's Daughter

Harlow Pearson, twice U.S. Representative from Vermont, is a fly fisherman, a gambler, a womanizer and a father. Since his love for daughter Alexandra never exceeds his overwhelming need for control, it's not entirely surprising that her pregnancy at age 19 should result in parental strictures that still obtain two decades after Harlow's death. Alexandra's story is related by her father confessor, a friend who lives down the road a piece. Maneuvered into marriage by the terms of her father's will, Alexandra struggles to keep her spirit intact while her husband, Bryce, hand-picked by Harlow, looks for ways to twist her arm ""a little, just to keep her in line.'' To do so, Bryce even threatens to turn his smalevolence toward the child. Eventually, his wife takes sanctuary from his bluster and lies by rekindling an old love affair. A dry, credible bitterness pervades this latest novel by the author of The Good Son. Its hesitant tone and emotional distance are the calculated result of having the story told by an observer, a device that works only up to a point. (April 18)