Arielle’s story will resonate with readers—particularly women of a certain age—eager to will her to leave her bastard...
A painfully honest, moving family saga—and first novel—by sculptor, professor, and multigenre author Peck (Sculpture as Experience, 2007).
Tracing the relationship of Arielle Fischer and Stuart Brockman from their first meeting in 1968 through courtship, marriage, parenthood and, ultimately, death, Peck offers a candid portrayal of the challenges encountered by a successful professional woman balancing work, marriage and motherhood. Although Arielle’s parents and sister support her juggling act, her husband—struggling with mental health issues and jealousy of her success—and his family seem to only blame Arielle for all that goes wrong, without recognizing all that she does right. Many readers will be baffled by Arielle not heeding her initial impression of Stuart on their disastrous first date. Not only does she continue to see and, eventually, marry the troubled and troubling Stuart, but she remains married to him when most women would have left. Stranger still, she believes she loves him. The disturbing trek through nearly 30 years of the Brockmans’ lives together should be depressing, but Arielle’s eternal optimism (Stuart calls her his “light”) and no-nonsense attitude prevent the book from being too dark. Arielle copes with not only Stuart’s but their children’s bad decisions and the turmoil they create—all of which Stuart blames on Arielle because he apparently had no role in their upbringing. Upsetting subject matter aside, the novel is a touching, no-holds-barred depiction of a dysfunctional family on the brink of brokenness. Peck proves herself to be as much an artist with words as she is with other media. Stuart’s description of Arielle’s luminosity is spot-on, although she reveals a curiously shallow depth of introspection, despite the fact that the book is written in first person. Arielle never really questions her own decisions or shows much pain in the face of the cruelty she suffers at the hands of the others.
Arielle’s story will resonate with readers—particularly women of a certain age—eager to will her to leave her bastard husband.Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1600476426
Page Count: 438
Publisher: Wasteland Press
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
