THE EARTH AND ALL IT HOLDS

A family-dynasty sequel to This Splendid Earth (1978), following the carbonated careers of the French Brussac clan of winemakers in California. There are various unpleasant deaths, beginning with papa Claude Brussac's expiration by cholera and ending 20 years later with his bastard grandson Philip's, via an oil-well explosion; in between characters are shot, levitated by bombs, pushed downstairs, and driven to suicide by rope and poison. The lovers are half-Mexican Philip and Jolene, daughter of Mary Brussac (who, in Splendid Earth, left the family vineyards to form a rival company with hubby Jose). Philip, despised by the Brussacs as a bastard ordinaire, is shipped, after Claude's death, to the ancestral home in France. But he returns as an adult, is reluctantly given a place at the vineyards, and intends to marry Jolene. The lovers will be parted for years, however, thanks to crossed signals and Mary's wiles--so Philip manages to marry his own sister, Elena (it's a long, idiotic story), while Jolene disappears into a high-class brothel and finally teams up with dastardly Sloan Morrow. And Philip's son Roger will eventually pair with--naturally--Alexandra, daughter of Jolene. Jolene and Philip will meet again on his deathbed and bare all. A pretzel plot and soft-core suds--for endlessly tolerant soap-buyers only.