by Ann Arensberg
The wealthy heroine of this first novel has inherited enough land to become the community's social leader, but she is not exactly a gregarious person. In fact, when she decides to turn her estate into an animal refuge, she secretly—and illegally—sets free a pack of wolves. There is a school for blind children nearby, and the heroine falls in love with one of its teachers. Then a child from the school gets lost and is killed. The wolves are detected, and the rest is predictable. This is gothic melodrama, a symbol-ridden literary land with nothing at all believable. But the writing is oddly elegant, sometimes powerful, and the book is never boring. It's just bizarre in not altogether pleasant ways. (Knopf, $9.95)
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