Runabout

Morsi's ( Garters ) novel has a strong sense of time and place. Set in Plattsville, Okla., when Woodrow Wilson was president, this novel recalls rural America in the days of carousels, country dances and the simple pleasures of church and home. The story begins when spunky but plain Tulsa May Bruder, the reverend's daughter, is publicly jilted by Dr. Odie Foote at their engagement party. Her best friend, Luther Briggs, the most attractive bachelor in town, vows to help her save face by a make-believe courtship. The plot develops with predictable self-discovery and the evolution from friendship to sexual passion. More unexpected is the relationship between Luther's younger brother Arthel and the beauty queen, Maybelle Penny. Luther and Arthel's mother was Native American, and the racial taunts of Maybelle (including names such as ``Chief Buffalo Brain'') serve as the aggressive catalyst of their relationship. The third coupling pairs Emma Dix, the town's fallen woman, and Doc Odie Foote. Emma Dix ran away with a married man but is given a chance to regain her reputation when she returns to nurse her dying father. (Feb.)