Washington Rollercoaster.

• Author: McElwaine, Sandra

Washington Rollercoaster. Sondra Gotlieb. Doubleday-Canada, $24.95. Fasten your seat belts folks. Sondra Gotlieb, wife of,, the former Canadian ambassador has struck again-Washington Rollercoaster is more than just a bumpy ride.

It is part Perils of Pauline," part innocent abroad, part long-suffering spouse, with a large dollop of revisionist history thrown in.

Although Sondra considers herself a humorist, somewhere along the line she has lost her wit. She adheres to the credo "get mad and get even"and does so with the venom of a cobra.

Let's get right to the heart of the matter. Nancy Reagan made her do it.

In case you were on Mars, I had better explain.

On March 19, 1986 the ambassador and his wife were entertaining the A" list of Powertown at an official dinner for Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Standing on the steps of "the Residence," waiting impatiently for Vice President and Mrs. Bush to arrive, Sondra got miffed at a last-minute cancellation. A self-styled expert on the complicated nuances of seating, she just couldn't bear the thought of fussing with those tables at such a late moment."

Unable to control her emotions over such an egregious situation, she expressed her dismay by hauling off and slugging her social secretary, Connie Connors, who was standing dutifully by her side. All the other heavy hitters, so to speak, and important newsies missed the scene. They were busy partying inside. Sondra thought she was home free. But one lone reporter, Juliet O'Neill, of the Canadian Press, "not a guest," as Sondra points out-as if she had been trespassing-was nevertheless alert in the driveway. To Sondra's chagrin, O'Neill witnessed what Sondra calls a private incident," and ever so impolitely broke the story.

Hours later, the unsuspecting ambassadorial couple were celebrating what they considered a successful evening when they were engulfed in what Sondra describes as "a tidal wave of poisonous abuse and denigration from the media."

Trying further to prove her innocence, Sondra goes on to question both O'Neill's reporting skills and her eyesight, but enough of that. The whole slap flap can be laid right at Nancy Reagan's door.

The night before the slugging, the Gotliebs were late for a White House state dinner, and Sondra says the first lady was rude. Sondra says she was so distressed by Nancy's slight that she failed to sleep that night. The next day she decided to diet in order to squeeze into a tight new red dress. By eight in the...