THE STORY OF LUCY GAULT (2002)

Trevor is a 9:4 favorite to win this year's Booker Prize, which perhaps indicates a belief among British oddsmakers that Booker judges are inclined to endorse 200-page cliches so long as they're sepia toned. In 1921, on the eve of her family's mournful departure from its Irish homestead, 8-year-old Lucy goes missing and is presumed dead. Mr. and Mrs. Gault sorrowfully skip town. By chapter 3, Lucy is found alive, but her mom and dad have, unbeknownst to anyone, settled in Italy. Lucy grows up to look beautiful in a plain white dress, to discover a natural skill for petit-point embroidery, and to utter such lines as ''Loving me will make you unhappy.'' Trevor spends less ink on her inner life than on descriptions of sheepdogs.