Bedrock
An assortment of odd people inhabits Roches Ridge, Vermont: Loretta Gebo, beehived proprietor of Casa Loretta; Ishtar, owner of the rival Karma Cafe and renegade from a lesbian commune; Daryl Perkins, crippled, aspiring TV preacher, lusting after Loretta; Maureen Murphy, bitter spinster, trying to kill off her aged mother by taking her on exhausting "pleasure" trips. But it is to Roches Ridge that Clea Shawn flees to "detox" from her successful life--as photographer, wife of an international businessman, mother of two children in college, friend/would-be lover of sculptor Elke. Alther is a fine writer, able to move effortlessly from past to present and among her dramatis personae; and the crazy characters and tongue-in-cheek style exhibit flashes of the wit expected from the author of Kinflicks (LJ 3/1/76). Ultimately, though, the drama of Clea's life becomes tedious, and we never care as much about her as she does about herself.- Francine Fialkoff, "Library Journal"Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.