POSSESSIONS

by Judith Michael ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 21, 1984

Katherine Fraser, happily married for ten years to businessman Craig, a mother of two in Vancouver, gets a rude shock one day. Craig, off on a business-trip, simply doesn't return. Worse yet, it appears that he was secretly embezzling big bucks from his company. Worse yet, Katherine then gets a visit from San Francisco's Ross Hay-ward--who has recognized a newspaper photo of Craig Fraser: he is really Craig Hay-ward, a Frisco heir who disappeared years ago after a mysterious/traumatic boating accident in which Craig's sister Jennifer died! Unsurprisingly, then, Katherine's in a terrible state: not only is she husband-deserted and financially shaky, but she's also in a stew about the fact that she never knew the man she was married to all those years. And the rich, snooty Hayward family is only half-sympathetic to this suddenly acquired daughter-in-law and grandchildren--so Katherine at first snubs them right back. She does, however, move to San Francisco, after selling her beloved house. Thanks to old chum Leslie (a department store VP), Katherine gets a job--and starts developing her talent for jewelry design. Slowly, too, she begins looking at men, trying to forget fugitive Craig--who sends money occasionally and even makes one phantom-like appearance. (""I don't have to live like a prisoner while I'm waiting for Craig."") Suitor #1: Craig's suave cousin Derek (Ross' hated brother), a George Sanders type who arouses Katherine. . . but only briefly. (""She did not need him. She was free."") Suitor #2: cousin Ross, ill-treated by his wife--who turns out to be the real thing, with hot consummation on a trip to France. So, though Craig's sins will momentarily impede Katherine's jewelry career, she'll learn to live without him, to be ""a whole person by myself"". . . while both Leslie and Ross overcome business-problems in dull subplots. (""Derek could no longer touch him; he was free."") Modestly presented, this variation on an old gothic/romance formula--with some nice specifics in the jewelry biz--might have been pleasant. Here, stretched out to an enervating 416 pages, it's slow, implausible at every turn, and pastily written (by the husband/wife team responsible for the livelier Deceptions).

Pub Date: May 21, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Poseidon--dist. by Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION