BEFORE THE COCK CROWS

Adolescent loneliness keynotes the story of Ada who, at 6, leaves her foster home and meets her older brother and sister-the vibrant, beautiful Fabio and Regina. She is excluded from their golden world until the summer at the seaside when she is 13. Alex joins them at the shore, a restless figure who lacks passion himself and feeds on the intensity of others. He captivates Ada, confuses Regina, and fascinates Fabio who goes off to Paris with him. In the fall, when the family returns home, Regina falls in love with Alex and plans to elope with him. Overhearing this, Ada warns Fabio who acts to save his world and persuades Alex to back down. Regina waits for him in vain at the station, and comes home heartsick and ill with pneumonia. So that Ada is left on the brink of maturity having destroyed her vicarious world by betraying those she loved....The author writes delicately, distinctively, capturing subtle variations of mood in compact, fluid images.