HAPHAZARD HOUSE

Past and future tangle in a mare's-nest around a modern British family in this wry, complex ghost story from Wesley, a well-known author of adult books (A Dubious Legacy, 1992, etc.). Nothing if not impulsive, painter Andrew Fuller bets heavily on a 50-to-1 shot that wins the Derby, then moves family—plus an entourage of pets and acquaintances—to a half-burnt country house that his daughter Lisa picks out of an old magazine ad. Except for one peculiar couple, the local town is deserted; the house is haunted by a spectral figure that beckons cheerily from a window that isn't there and keeps the Fullers supplied with fresh produce; and time becomes strange—``It's not steady [here],'' Lisa nervously avers. Spooked both literally and figuratively, she watches her mother and grandfather grow younger while the outside world becomes less and less real; eventually, everyone joins in a joyous, timeless dance and Lisa, suddenly adult, meets the no- longer-ghostly ghost and realizes that she already knows and loves him. Though the family dynamics and conversation often recall the slapstick Bagthorpes, Wesley's story has an eerie flavor—a strong feeling of ``things-are-not-as-they-seem-and-much-of-this-has- happened-before''; at the end, when Lisa asks, ``Shall I wake up? Shall I forget?'', the ghost replies, ``Not this time. Dance, Lisa. I have waited so long for you.'' Haunting—in several senses. (Fiction. 12+)