Honorable Profession

Poet and novelist L'Heureux ( A Woman Run Mad ) here offers a modern-day variation on The Children's Hour with this portrayal of a teacher victimized by a whispering campaign. Miles Bannon is a popular high school English teacher in Boston who enjoys the respect of his students. His mother is dying, he is messily involved with two women and he is plagued by a deep insecurity about his sexual orientation. When a boy who has been sexually brutalized by a gang of football players in the locker room develops a crush on Miles, he fails to discourage it--an ambiguity that triggers bitter accusations after the boy commits suicide. Miles must confront his own nature as he faces the opprobrium of his colleagues and the community. In powerful, graphic prose, L'Heureux succeeds in presenting Miles as a weak hero without alienating the reader. The result is a troubling story--a combination interior odyssey and intense thriller--that doesn't settle for black-and-white answers. (Jan.)