THE POTTER'S WHEEL

With this story of an eventful family reunion, Johnston turns in another well-crafted novel about the strength of family relationships. Family matriarch Serena Van Zandt, having restored her Pennsylvania homestead (Williamsburg style), invites her family for the opening. Her charismatic personality has strongly affected her three daughters; Kay, whose reaction is to rebel, goes to England instead of coming. It falls to her only child--Laura, 16--to represent their branch of the family. Discovering that her parents are divorcing, Laura stays on after the reunion; during the rest of the summer, she learns about her cousins' strengths and weaknesses, the power of physical attraction, and her own untapped talents as a leader and administrator; she also gains better understanding of her parents' marriage, her grandmother's character, and the power of love in an extended family. Although the theme of the search for identity and a place in the world is familiar, Laura is a strong heroine. Some of the lesser characters are predictable, and the story is slow to start; still, Johnston delivers solid entertainment and adds another memorable family to her gallery.