Anna L.M.N.O.

In the hamlet of Alpine, west Texas, there is a multi-talented hairdresser to whom the locals are drawn for many things. Annathe initials after her name account for several marriageswas once a battered wife, then a wife by ``green card'' contract; currently she is a single woman grappling with the emotional neediness of a widower and his daughter who both woo her. Loving, but fiercely independent, Anna aims to own the beauty shop where a colleague is dying of cancer while the owner trysts upstairs. A homosexual friend, an alien-ferrying former husband and others also figure in Anna's floating family. With authentic, if garrulous, dialogue the unconventional love story in this first novel features a captivating original in Anna. (October)