From Publishers Weekly Briskin's ( The Naked Heart ) ponderous， slow-moving 10th novel is built of short chapters and subsections that give the plot a disjointed， bits-and-pieces feel， but her work is somewhat redeemed by good use of historical detail and interesting--if idealized--characters. The Kingsmith family is divided among three nations， England， Germany and the U.S. German Kathe meets her American cousin， Wyatt， when both compete in the 1936 Olympics. The two embark on an affair， but the family insists they wait until 1940， when Kathe comes of age， to announce their engagement. Kathe insists on honoring this agreement and refuses to elope， causing half-Jewish Wyatt to doubt her love and her opposition to Nazism. Kathe， by now too good to be true， gets involved in wartime British spy operations through her English cousin Aubrey， even though she loses most of her family and isn't guaranteed any protection by the British. After the war， Wyatt doesn't trust his still-beloved Kathe when she won't disclose her covert activities. In a predictable finale， the decimated family pulls through to the present and Kathe's romance is resolved. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information， Inc. From Library Journal In the shadow of Hitler's rise， the Kingsmith commercial empire thrives in London， New York， and Berlin. Four young Kingsmith cousins live and love tempestuously against the uncertain backgrounds of World War II. The passion of American， partly Jewish Wyatt and Kathe， his blond-plaited German cousin， defies circumstance to provide a storybook ending. Hero and heroine are symbolic， overdrawn figures， but Briskin has created a memorable cast of supporting characters. She also has impressively conveyed a sense of time and place， especially in writing of Hitler's Germany and wartime England. This title has echoes of Herman Wouk's Winds of War ( LJ 11/1/71) and War and Remembrance ( LJ 10/15/78)， although it lacks the literary craft of those works. Fans of the multigenerational and historical genres should be attracted. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections.- Libby K. White， Schenectady Cty. P.L.， N.Y.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information， Inc.