Grace

Against the ominous background of radioactive fallout from the disaster in Chernobyl, Gee ( Light Years ) interweaves the stories of writer and anti-nuclear activist Paula Timms, her 85-year-old pacifist aunt Grace, and a split-personality private eye named Bruno Janes, who may or may not be working for the government investigating possible ties between Paula, Grace and Eastern bloc nations. Much in the novel is ambiguous: Is Paula's illness due to radiation sickness or pregnancy? Is Bruno evil, a mindless drone or simply inept? What was the nature of Grace's youthful relationship with a painter named Ralph? Heavy with portent--in a fierce storm, Grace helps deliver the baby of a young woman named Faith; Bruno's last name is pronounced Janus--and laden with metaphors of dirt, filth and waste, the plot is not saved by a facile, speedy resolution, all too hopeful, given all the disasters leading up to it. The charac ters are deftly delineated and the issues broached are certainly important, but the novel as a whole neither hangs together nor convinces. (Sept.)