FICTION

WOMAN WANTED by Joanna McClelland Glass (St. Martin’s: $13.95). Newly divorced, Emma Rowena Riley leaves Boston for her new home and job in New Haven, bringing with her little more than the prospect of a life devoid of connection. She soon learns that her employer, a Yale professor, and his grown son need more than a housekeeper: A deep emotional chasm separates them, and neither will be whole until the breach is healed. Emma becomes the catalyst in this archetypal drama, while exploring her own deep needs. The novel resolves these timeless themes in an updated fashion, convincingly. Emma is an engaging narrator, funny and passionate. Stylistically, however, the novel is less successful: Glass uses experimental devices--such as breaking out the dialogue typographically and in play script--that only distract. That reservation aside, “Woman Wanted” is a moving, entertaining novel whose heroine is a pleasure to know.