THE LAWYERS

A sophisticated, domesticated talent, which has shown off to better advantage in earlier books, is here applied to dub in the private lives behind the facade of a large New York City law firm, so that it concentrates on the interpersonal relationships as well as politics within the organization of Bredon & Bredon & Adams & Tree. A conservative old firm, its blood is tired, so Carl Newhouse is brought in, chiefly as a young man believed capable of handling their main account- Gallivant. He is resented, as well as Janet, his wife, who has had a job in the literary world which gives her an edge on the Westchester wives of firm members although the Newhouses, after their first child, are also forced to move to the suburbs. Most of the story- and it is minimal- deals with Carl's brilliant Stock Option Plan for Gallivant, which ricochets when a stockholder action is brought against them. Even though he ultimately wins the case-it only leads to further bitterness and the general dissolution of Bredon & Bredon & Adams & Tree. The sharpness of character types, and conversational skills (a forte as in Lucy and The Delaware Dialogues) does not altogether compensate for a novel which is chiefly a montage.