A squire pursues fortune, fame and the woman he loves—at any cost.
Gabourel’s medieval tale follows the adventures of Gaspard, who serves the up-and-coming Lord Fulk from the Castle de Hambie in Normandy. The two grow up more like close friends than as lord and squire; indeed, Gaspard’s esteem proves much higher than the average man of his rank. Despite numerous opportunities to rise in stature, Gaspard stays by Lord Fulk—that is, until the latter takes the beautiful Gisla as his wife, prompting Gaspard to jealousy. Growing increasingly antagonistic toward Lord Fulk, Gaspard eventually betrays him in a moment of critical political importance. His deeds haunt him, and those he loves, throughout the remainder of the novel. Beyond its inclusion of the mainstay themes of medieval literature, Gabourel’s tale maintains an overall healthy balance of action and reflection. Gaspard does not come across as a clichéd relic of times past; his complexity holds the novel together at its weakest points. In particular, for all the depth Gaspard’s character has, the novel does not adequately depict his transition from admiration to animus toward Lord Fulk. On the contrary, one comes away wishing that the plot spent more time building up toward the fateful climax. Beside issues of plot, the dialogue often comes off as too self-aware, not as authentic medieval speak but rather as imitation. These instances tend to stultify the action, particularly because a few scenes try much harder than others to ape medieval dialect. These criticisms aside, any reader looking for a quick, easy read brimming with violence and romance will be satisfied with Gabourel’s work. While this novel does not contain many surprises, its eagerness and heart rewards its audience in the end. A legend of the Middle Ages bound to please most readers.
Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0984134427
Page Count: 318
Publisher: John Gabourel
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 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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