CLAIMING HER

Newcomer Brahen boldly reinterprets Genesis in this inventive, if overlong, SF/fantasy hybrid that begins as a realistic drama of a young Philadelphia mother, Leigh Ann Elfman, coping with a failed marriage, then moves into an otherworldly story of unfulfilled love across the ages, including more than one paranormal paramour. A "dark presence" repeatedly appears to the psychically gifted Leigh Ann and informs her that she was first born as Leianna on Eliom, an Edenic planet of angel folk, 35,000 years earlier. Leigh Ann journeys to Eliom, where she meets Bael, her original betrothed, who still wishes to make her his bride. Leigh Ann, however, has mixed feelings at best about this prospect. Brahen writes clearly and creates distinct characters, but some judicious cutting might have improved the pace. (Dec. 15)

Forecast: The naïve jacket art, showing a man and woman reaching across an abyss to each other against a bucolic background, will signal romance fans. The religious worldview is probably too unorthodox for Christian booksellers.