FICTION

CALIFORNIA TIME by Catherine Hiller. (St. Martin’s Press: $19.95; 263 pp.) The difference between New York and Los Angeles has been the subject of countless party conversations, magazine articles and comedy bits. It’s also the main concern of “California Time,” a well-intentioned but ultimately problematic novel about one family’s bi-coastal experience. Mom, dad, son and daughter relocate across country to escape the dirt and crime in New York. But instead of finding their California dream they come face to face with the emotional shifts a move can bring--shifts that change both individual lives and family relationships. Some of this works well. Catherine Hiller’s writing has a refreshing sweetness, an innocence almost, which makes all the characters seem like people you’d want to have house-sit for you. Even with homelessness, despair and a mugging, there’s still the sense that nothing truly awful will happen to these folks. A nice change.

Where “California Time” runs into trouble is its subject matter. The only burning question in this novel is which members of the Simon family are going to adjust to Los Angeles life and which members are not. The other, infinitely more interesting and subtle questions concerning human relationships get short shrift or no shrift at all. “California Time” has only one note and although it’s a good note, round and rich, many readers are looking for a whole song.