ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512050029
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: F-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY KATHLEEN RATLIFF
WISHBONE. By Marcia Golub. Baskerville. $20.
This novel begins on a light note at a slight pace. It grows stronger as the characters develop and the plot unfolds, then becomes frightening and unrelenting in its exposure of the brutal side of insanity.
Mabel Fleish, the newly published writer of a first novel, "Wishbone," is experiencing a certain amount of notoriety in the small college town of Winegarten, N.Y. She's married to Professor Percival Furnival and they have one troubled daughter, 12-year-old Ana.
An air of uncertainty blows through this eerie tale as Mabel's immoral personality is exposed, revealing her many extramarital affairs. Everyone in the town is aware of her loose behavior, including Percival and his friend and father-figure Professor Wutzl, who also lusts after Mabel, especially after he reads her provocative novel. When Mabel begins to receive threatening letters signed by the main character in her book, she suspects several people.
Then she disappears.
With Wutzl's help, Percival decides to find her and scrutinizes her novel and the notes she had received. Through various literary devices and supernatural conjectures, Percival miraculously succeeds.
"Wishbone" is a disturbing and suspenseful thriller. At times, it appears to be written in a hop, skip, jump manner, yet Golub "fills in the blanks" and fits the pieces together. Certain macabre sections involving torture may be too harsh for some readers, but, without question, the book is difficult to put down.
Kathleen Ratliff is a former English teacher.
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Marcia Golub, author of "Wishbone."|by CNB