So where has Celia Henry been all my life? Or more important, Laura Kalpakian? Celia is the central figure in a new novel, STEPS AND EXES (published by Avon Books), and Laura Kalpakian is the author.

Let me repeat and explain the title. STEPS AND EXES. Steps is steps, as in step-daughter step-mother, step-brother. You get the picture. Exes is exes, as in ex-husband, ex-lover, etc. STEPS AND EXES is brimming with step relatives and exes, to the point that you might need a road map. It all revolves around Celia Henry, an earth mother who runs a bed and breakfast on in island in Pugent Sound. Returning daughters and step-daughters arrive for a wedding party and you slowly meet all of the relatives, past and present. The book resonates with energy and outrage. Celia - try to picture the vitality, sexuality and vulnerability of prime Colleen Dewhurst and you will have Celia in focus.

Let me make a personal aside. One of the most invigorating aspects of the women's movement has been the liberating effect it has had on men who are willing to listen to the justified outrages of the other gender. Through Celia Henry, authoress Kalpakian is nothing short of continual revelation, exposing the type of suffocation women have endured, almost unnoticed by men.

The daughters and their mates, Celia and her history (past and present) are a source of rage, reflection and passion. Their collective response to a New York-based magazine, which boasts that they will legitimize the bed and breakfast, is a dazzling expose of media self-importance. By the way, the bed and breakfast joint is called Henry's House, and the reasons why are a mini-series unto itself.

STEPS AND EXES is for women to savor and for men to empathize, and for all readers to celebrate.