Loving Touches

In a lengthy mother-daughter saga that spans decades and continents, Kingsley (Scents) explores the lives of Czech actress Katarine DeVary and her daughter, Lari. The story begins with Lari's birth in a grim Czech prison during WWII, then zips back to Kat's beginnings, when she left her family's farm to find work as an actress in Prague. Her rise to fame and her subsequent marriage to wealthy activist Milos Kyrmen are disrupted by the German invasion and her imprisonment for political crimes. Shortly before Kat's arrest, a brief sexual liaison with American CIA agent Gene Livingston leaves Kat pregnant and uncertain who the child's father is. Desperate to get Lari out of Czechoslovakia, Kat bestows the dubious honor of her paternity on Gene, then disappears. As Lari begins her new life within the elite folds of Newport, R.I., she finds herself longing for the mother she has seen only once, the father she has never known and the home she never had. Lari's character is often stiff and unlikable, especially when she discovers that Gene may not be her parent and denounces him without the benefit of a blood test. Ditto the love-the-one-you're-with attitude she takes with her three romantic interests. Although Lari's story pales in comparison to Kat's, this is still a rich, compelling read. (Apr.)