Leavitt, David. Equal Affections. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Feb. 1989. c.256p. LC 88-14411. ISBN 1-55584-202-X. $17.95
[FICTION]

The latest novel by the author of Family Dancing (8/84) and The Lost Language of Cranes (9/15/84) examines the complex relationships of the Cooper family. Family matriarch Louise Cooper, mother of gay siblings April and Danny, suffers one medical malady after another, while Nat, her computer scientist husband, enjoys a long-term affair on the side. As Louise's condition deteriorates, tensions mount and family members attempt to define and justify their conflicting feelings. Leavitt's plot twists and turns around various relationships--of Nat and Louise, Danny and his lover Walter, Louise and her polio-crippled sister Eleanor--and April's decision to have a baby while maintaining her tremendous appeal as a star of women's music. A compassionate, moving work.

Kevin M. Roddy, Oakland Public Library, California