Bungalow 2

In Steel's latest, 42-year-old Tanya Harris loves her life as a mother of three, wife of a dashing San Francisco lawyer and moderately successful writer of short stories and soap opera scripts. She has long given up on her dream of writing a screenplay, but then her agent calls with a dream offer: a major director wants her and her alone to write the script for a new high-profile film. Tanya's first reaction is distress (her twin daughters are about to start their senior year, and her son is making the transition to his freshman year at UC Santa Barbara; how can she leave them?), but her detailed deliberations are cut short by her husband, who convinces her that this is her big opportunity. In Hollywood, Tanya's cosseted in every possible way, and she takes to the work immediately. But the weekend flights home aren't enough, and her worst fear is realized when her husband strays. Steel follows Tanya as she copes with domestic upheaval, all the time pushing ahead with her blossoming screenwriting career. Steel's characters spend a lot of time contemplating problems, and Tanya is especially adept at hand-wringing. Steel's many loyal readers will be entertained by this story of a dedicated mother and wife who embarks on a series of life-altering adventures in Hollywood. (June)