Class Notes

ANYTHING FOR JANE

By Cheryl Mendelson

Random House. 284 pp. $25.95

The final novel in Cheryl Mendelson's Morningside Heights trilogy closes out the story of the Braithwaites, a comfortable Manhattan family liberal in both their politics and their hospitality. Ensconced in an apartment that was bequeathed to them in a previous novel, they flourish in the once boho-shabby, now tres chic neighborhood near Columbia University.

From its first sentence, "Good parents made bad citizens," Anything for Jane announces itself to be a novel of manners that minds its p's and q's. We are swiftly initiated into the world of well-intentioned, well-heeled progressives who abandon their pet causes but not their fine opinions once the kiddies come along. Intense pride in these offspring is inevitable, but "one of the first rules of social intercourse," Mendelson archly notes, "prohibited public gloating over a child's successes."

Well-established musicians Charles and Anne Braithwaite, who are lovingly raising four children, have plenty to rejoice over privately, and their willowy eldest daughter is their crown jewel. Along with her exquisite singing voice, though, 18-year-old Jane seems to have inherited an extra selfish gene, and both parents are at pains to cajole her into better behavior even as they nurture her talent. Juilliard is a foregone conclusion.

Into this family tableau intrude the troubles of their housekeeper, an illegal Dominican immigrant. When an extra few hundred dollars aren't enough to fix her health and save her from eviction, she's "temporarily" moved into a spare room off the kitchen. Soon her nephew, Andrés, a gifted boy with none of the Braithwaite children's advantages, and Jane bridge their class gap and form a secret attachment.

When a false criminal charge threatens to derail Andrés's young life, the Braithwaites and their circle of friends, several of whom are familiar from Mendelson's earlier books, feel compelled to intercede. The stage is set for social commentary, class conflict and a rather indignant case against America's drug laws.

Mendelson clearly knows the neighborhood, and her characters are easy to root for even when they make bad decisions. Yet Anything for Jane never quite delivers on its early promise to examine the costs of a child-centric life in a community where family success and failure are judged so exactingly. At times, her sharp observations invite scrutiny of her cosseted characters and their frequent armchair philosophizing. But Mendelson's evident sympathies and her need to tie up the story with an improbable red bow reveal her to be just another member of the Braithwaites' inner circle.

-- Sarah L. Courteau is literary editor of the Wilson Quarterly.