TRAIL OF SECRETS

``Oh, what a tangled web we weave . . .'' Such is the dominant theme of this latest Goudge saga (Blessing in Disguise, 1994, etc.). It's 1972 when Ellie, a good girl from the Midwest whose parents kicked her out when she got pregnant (it was her ``first time''), returns to the Manhattan apartment where her hooker sister Nadine has been baby-sitting Ellie's infant daughter Bethanne. But to Ellie's horror, while she's been working the late shift selling movie tickets, Nadine's been beaten to a pulp by her pimp, who- -worse yet—made off with Betanne (telling Nadine, who later dies of a drug overdose, that blue-eyed babies are hot on the black market). Waspy Kate Sutton—wife of the also blue-blooded Will, co- owner of an antiques store, and someone who's been craving motherhood for years—is so elated when her husband's attorney suddenly ``locates'' an adoptable baby that she forces herself to ignore the revealing photos and news bulletins about Bethanne's kidnapping. As it happens, the child grows up as Skyler Sutton, a lovely, smart, gifted equestrienne who's been told by the Suttons since the age of six that she was abandoned by her ``real'' mother. Meanwhile, Ellie's never forgotten Bethanne, of course, but she's managed to put herself through night- and then graduate school, become a psychologist, and marry Paul Nightingale, a neonatologist who has trouble dealing with Ellie's desperate, always doomed attempts to become a mother again. When the 23-year-old Skyler/Bethanne meets Tony Salvatore, a friend of Ellie's and a mounted policeman from the wrong side of the tracks (but with a heart of gold), all hell breaks loose: Secrets leak, wounds reopen, another baby is born—and Goudge plays fix-it with her customary zeal, providing far-fetched but satisfying conclusions. A relatively guilt-free, toothsome treat: Goudge doesn't aim too high, but then again, unlike overshooters, she hits her mark. (First printing of 125,000; Literary Guild main selection; $125,000 ad/promo; author tour)