A richly descriptive debut novel that evokes English farm life in the post-World War I period.
Lecouteur’s debut novel reveals family and farm life in England during the period between the two World Wars.
The novel plunges readers straight into the dynamics of the Thomas family: Fred, his wife, Dorothy, and their four daughters. Fred is a World War I veteran settling into farm life, and Dorothy, the daughter of a well-off farmer, is more comfortable working in the family’s dairy than she is keeping house. As the Thomas’ face the trials and tribulations of running a successful farm in the remote English countryside, they must also grapple with the challenges faced by every Brit during the period between the two World Wars: economic hardship, war-ravaged infrastructure and a rapidly changing society. The characters themselves, however, are not as quick to change. Dorothy remains entrenched in Victorian values and Fred is portrayed as hard-working but emotionally disengaged. Regardless what they exhibit publicly, these characters have rich inner lives, which the author depicts poignantly; Dorothy’s personal disappointments are particularly resonant, especially her wish for a son and the post-partum depression she experiences after giving birth to her youngest child. But readers may struggle to connect with her character: Dorothy is not particularly likable or endearing, and tends to browbeat the other members of her family. Fred doesn’t come off much better, content to let the battle rage between mother and daughters. The strength of this tale lies in its descriptions of farm life. Whether recounting a failed crop or the arrival of new poultry, the author offers readers a glimpse inside early 20th-century farm life and how that pans out for a group of women thrust into traditionally male roles. That said, the descriptions of rural life can be quite lengthy and pedantic; whole chapters are dedicated to the rearing of various farm animals, housework and a survey of the surrounding farmland. Impatient readers may be put off by the author’s attention to detail.
A richly descriptive debut novel that evokes English farm life in the post-World War I period.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2009
ISBN: 978-1449035143
Page Count: 592
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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