EVEN AS YOU LOVE

The story of the author's own marriage to a Mexican (My Heart Lies South, 1953) is an authentic background for this novel of an American-Mexican marriage that influences a wife who has left her husband. Hurt and hot-headed, impetuous, demanding and childish, Ann walks out on Peter in Boston, comes to stay with her sister, Snow, whose life with Bernardo Rosales y Luna has brought her a deeper sense of religion and a different attitude toward marital strengths and weaknesses. Living in Mexico City with them, Ann shares in their anxieties -- over Bernardo's brother, Greg, who has lost his vocation for priesthood; their domineering son; their daughter who is being taught the way of a religious by her pious aunt; Snow's difficult pregnancy; and other critical happenings that affect their home. She tries resentment and opposition but succumbs to humility when she sees how faith, love and trust answer all the questions. Peter's arms -- and his understanding -- have a warm welcome when he comes for Ann. A woman's book with lots going on, this will appeal to more than a Catholic market.