A mother and daughter suffers the slings and arrows of their adversarial relationship as they act out their outwardly ordinary suburban existence. A first novel. This first novel explores the turbulent interactions between a mother and her adolescent daughter. At first, Leslie Flynn worships her mother Marion, but when she gets older she finds that "I did wish she was different . . . and I wished I wasn't so afraid of becoming just like her." Marion, who initially seems to have it all together, finally reveals insecurity that suggests this model family may not be as perfect as it seems. The author does an outstanding job of keeping the reader in suspense as to how it will all turn out; she also counterbalances the Flynns' story with characters like Leslie's Aunt Holly and her family. A good look at the quiet--and not-so-quiet--rebelliousness felt by every teenager. Recommended for all fiction collections, and possibly some older YA collections. - Vicki Cecil, Johnson Cty. Lib., Greenwood, Ind. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. An unpretentious but accomplished first novel about the bittersweet relationship between a mother and a daughter, refreshingly free of either anger or sentimentality. Only child Leslie had loved her mother, Marion, without reserve. She delighted in her mother's love of birds and beautiful things, and in her ability to transform the mundane into the magical. Her mother gave the best birthday parties, was adored by all the neighborhood children, and was the most attentive of daughters to her own mother and father. But there is a serpent in every paradise, and little girls, even the most loving, soon turn into older and more critical adolescents, embarrassed by behavior once admired. Not only Leslie but father Dale begin to outgrow Marion's consuming love and need for reassurance. Insecure and timid, Marion is increasingly hurt when, over summers spent with grandparents in Connecticut and cousins on a lake, Leslie begins to demand more independence. But when Dale moves out, Leslie must cope with a devastated mother. And this she does, though at first it's not easy since she herself is suffering the usual turmoils of adolescence. Still, the two women adjust--``two women who have no alternative but to redefine ourselves''--and Marion slowly begins to create a more independent life for herself. At the same time Leslie realizes how little she knows her mother. As she prepares to leave home for college, she at last understands that her mother's ``love, when allowed to rest like a lion in the shade of a tree, could be peaceably admired for its beauty.'' Not major league, but one of those quietly compelling stories that touches the heart. A promising beginning. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. At ten, Leslie believes her mother can do no wrong-because Marion Flynn is just about perfect. Only when the family summers at Indian Lake does Leslie begin to suspect that her mother may not be the tower of strength Leslie had thought. For beneath Marion's charm lies an insecurity that threatens to shred the bonds of one closely knit family.