FICTION

PENELOPE’S HAT by Ronald Frame (Simon & Schuster: $22; 440 pp.) Billed as a comedy of manners but never truly funny, “Penelope’s Hat” is the “final novel,” the summing up of her life, by prolific (and fictional) author Penelope Milne, an examination of betrayals, both of and by her. Outside of her charming mania for fine millinery, Penelope seems to experience emotions only as fodder for future books; consequently one never identifies with her, nor is she engaging enough to sustain interest throughout the novel. The author’s fragmented style isn’t a help, either. Author Ronald Frame has Waugh-like tendencies but unlike that writer he isn’t able to turn a series of sudden tragedies and implausible coincidences into satire or even a lively story, and the result is rather laborious.