THE KITCHEN HOUSE

By Kathleen Grissom (Touchstone, 384 pages, $16 paperback)

Forget "Gone With the Wind." Belle and Lavinia, the heroines in this novel, will make Scarlett seem like a wimp in comparison. Belle is a slave who runs the kitchen house at the majestic Tall Oaks plantation. Lavinia is an indentured servant who was orphaned on the voyage from Ireland; the plantation owner brings her on to help Belle. Together they narrate a story that grabs the reader and demands to be devoured. Wow. The constant contrast between the lives of those who live in the mansion and those who do the work is maddening. Yet we find that love abounds among the family of slaves, who adopt Lavinia as their own. Old Mama Mae and Papa George watch out for their many children and tenderly care for each other. They offer devoted care to relatives and friends alike, as babies -- many fathered by white men -- are born and often die. They share food, fears and tears. Meanwhile, the mistress of the plantation, Miss Martha, is slowly losing her mind and becoming addicted to opium. A son is being abused by a tutor and led astray by the plantation's overseer. The plantation owner, who also owns a shipping business, is never home. Belle and Lavinia see more than their share of horrors and sorrow as they age and grow, but the bond they share will warm your heart. Grissom has created a cast of characters you will care deeply about. This book will not disappoint.

JUDY ROMANOWICH SMITH

NEWS DESIGNER

HIGH SOCIETY: THE LIFE OF GRACE KELLY

By Donald Spoto (Harmony Books, 303 pages, $25.99)

Grace Kelly's movie career had a great impact on the business, despite its brevity -- she worked in 11 films, primarily from 1950 to 1956. But what a run. She teamed with some of the biggest stars of the time -- Gary Cooper, Ava Gardner, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Bing Crosby and William Holden. She won an Oscar in 1955 for best actress for her performance in "The Country Girl." She then abruptly quit the business to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco. In "High Society," Donald Spoto does a solid, if somewhat restrained, job of chronicling how the shy, third child of an upper-middle-class Philadelphia family rose to become first a sought-after model, then a top theater and television actress, and finally one of the biggest movie stars of her time and a real-life princess. Spoto acknowledges early in the book his longtime friendship with Kelly, so don't expect any dirt. But we do get interesting stories about her upbringing (her father thought her older sister would achieve more); details about the making of her movies and disputes with the studios; and her relationship with Alfred Hitchcock, who directed her in three of her best-known films, "Dial M for Murder," "Rear Window" and "To Catch a Thief."

MILFORD REID, SPORTS DESIGNER