Dreams are Not Enough

Alyssia del Mar was a sultry international film star, but she still felt like Alice Hollister, daughter of a dirt-poor unmarried migrant farm worker. Nor did she ever feel a part of the movie studio-connected Cordiner family, which she had married into out of loneliness at 15, or of Our Own Gang, the group of five close-knit Cordiner cousins that included her husband Barry. Alice/Alyssia's story covers a 27-year span and has all the ingredients of best-sellerdom: star-crossed lovers, Hollywood glamour, family ties, Mafia deals, exotic locales, and a happy ending. And, as is her style, Briskin ( Too Much Too Soon ) hooks the reader in the opening pages, making it near-impossible to stop reading. So if characters are sometimes less than well-rounded, dialogue less than dazzling, and style sometimes stiff, still the story is relentless. A bonbon of a book. Literary Guild main selection. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L. , Va.