The Gazebo

The premise of Grayson's debut novel is that true love can be thwarted but never obliterated, but the unfolding of this particular romance may leave readers exasperated with characters who act more like victims of love than champions of it. As teenagers, Martin Rayfiel, scion of a wealthy family, and Claire Swift, who lives on the wrong side of the tracks, discover they are made for each other. They make a valiant effort to escape their social destinies, briefly defying everyone to pursue their dreams in Europe. When Claire is forced to return home to tend to her sick mother and Martin loses his inheritance, they reluctantly marry others. For 50 years, however, they have met once a year in the gazebo in the town square, to affirm their lifelong, and now platonic, love. As the story opens, Martin tries to interest Abby Reston, editor of the local paper, in the tale of their hapless romance, leaving Abby in possession of a briefcase filled with mementos and tapes documenting the vicissitudes of their lives. Grayson's decision to use Abby as a device to impart the account of the couple's history is intrusive and puzzling, an attempt to transform this tale into one of passionate heroics when Abby, galvanized by the chronicle, takes charge of her own life. Although she writes affecting scenes of the lovers' gentle intimacy and heartbreak, Grayson goes overboard in padding the narrative with details of seemingly insurmountable class differences. And while the contrived plot of this tale of love, loss and redemption asks for too much credulity, readers may be seduced by the descriptions of the characters' European sojourns and the weeper of a denouement. Rights sold to Columbia-TriStar for a TV movie; foreign rights sold in Finland, France, Germany, Holland and Italy. (May)