THE MEN AND THE GIRLS

THE MEN AND THE GIRLS Joanna Trollope (Random House, $20) You would expect a rather elegantly complex story from a writer who trumpets her descent from Anthony Trollope. But this Trollope's fifth novel (her first American release) doesn't delve deeply enough into the band of eccentrics she collects, making The Men and the Girls more like a tea-time Anne Tyler without desire or tension. In their 60s, James Mallow and his best friend, Hugh, are at the end of their respective careers as teacher and TV news anchor. Far from being used up, Trollope's old men are nurturing-not to the young women they love, but to the women's children, who thrive on their fatherly (or grandfatherly) energy and attention. The characters all seek emotional refuge in Mallow's scruffy Oxford home, where his calm and quiet enthusiasm cushion their various age- induced crises-without, alas, resolving anyone's problems. Unlike her forebear, Trollope tidies up the relationships before they get truly interesting. B- -Beth Pinsker