THE MAGICIAN'S WIFE

THE MAGICIAN'S WIFE Brian Moore (Dutton, $23.95) As though tempted by the cinematic sweep and grandeur of The English Patient, Brian Moore sets his smoldering tale of expat intrigue in North Africa, during the French-Algerian conflict of the late 1850s. Emperor Napoleon III has handpicked Henri Lambert, a David Copperfield-style illusionist, and his young wife, Emmeline, to further the cause of French imperialism by dazzling the rebellious native Berbers with European magic. Though the clash of two cultures is foreseeable, Moore smartly develops the character of Emmeline, whose fertile imagination -- and malleable heart -- are slowly fired by the seductive Sahara sands. B+