Intimate Enemies

As a college student in the '60s, Jessie McGrath was an antiwar activist; later she worked as a public-interest lobbyist. So her job as provost of Kinsolving, a small Boston college with a radical tradition, is suited to her background. What may not be so appropriate is her romance with disabled Vietnam vet Mark Claymore, ROTC commander at Kinsolving. Neither Jessie nor Mark is an idealogue, but their relationship is fraught with conflicts, most of which arise from Mark's repressed anger at the war, where he lost a his leg, or from Jessie's determination to remain true to the convictions of her youth and to avoid repeating the mistakes of her first marriage. This love story moves along smartly, propelled by the characters' timely observations and quick-witted retorts. And, while the tone is a bit too persistently bright, and Jessie's spunky resilience brings Nancy Drew to mind, Rivers (Virgins and Girls Forever Brave and True) takes her characters and their concerns seriously enough to make them appealing and credible, despite their preternatural talent for badinage. (November 23)