A grand-scale novel spanning four decades,

Traditions is the celebration of the family

that is America--and the family that is

Tiernan.

At the center of Traditions are the two

Tiernan sisters, Carolyn---beautiful, reli-

gious, and principled--and Margaret--

spunky, sexy, and irreverent. Different as two

sisters born of the same Tradition can be,

they are drawn to all corners of the earth as

their talents, drives, and desires lead them

from the sound stages of heyday Hollywood

to the time-worn "boards" of Broadway;

from London s West End theatres to the ex-

otic art world of postwar Paris. They live,

love, and work behind the footlights, the

klieg lights, the cameras, and are seen on the

television screens of America and the world.

Each sister raises a family. There are four

children, each different, with dreams and de-

sires all his own. Yet the Tiernan Tradition

remains the unbreakable thread that weaves

through the patterns of their lives and three

generations from the Depression and war

years; from the frantic fifties to the sexy, tur-

bulent sixties and seventies.

With drama and verve, Traditions chron-

icles the lives of this theatrical family that

is tied together, even kept alive, by its

Traditions.

Alan Ebert s rich prose and Janice Rotch-

stein s exhaustive research combine to create

a rare and compelling novel.