HALFWAY HOME

Sidney Sheldon fans will find a similar style in this first novel by his daughter. Wealthy Manhattan interior designer Alexis Donleavy struggles with a vague dissatisfaction in her life and agonizes over her childhood abandonment by her movie star mother. Barbara Rosenblat provides a characteristically superb reading, perfectly paced and thoroughly entertaining. Her performance is mildly diminished by her portrayal of some of the adolescent characters, who come off like high-pitched adults. However, Rosenblat richly paints the flamboyant mother as one of Hollywood's classy grande dames, complete with affected diction. N.M.C. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 03]