The town is Cullymore, on the Irish border; it was also the setting for his last novel (The Holy City, 2008, etc.). Once...
The Irish McCabe uses elements familiar from his previous work for his latest novel, a ghoulish small-town burlesque.
The town is Cullymore, on the Irish border; it was also the setting for his last novel (The Holy City, 2008, etc.). Once again, there will be violent episodes, fits of madness and sectarian (Catholic/Protestant) tensions. It’s 1958. A scream erupts in the heart of town. Tongues wag. Has the devil struck again? Not to worry; the café owner has had an accident with her new electric mixer, but these are superstitious folks. They are happy enough on the outside, whether it’s the smiley-faced butcher or the genial dentist, who organizes innocent (or are they?) dances for teenagers; underneath it’s a darker story. The feud between Father Gus Hand and the disgraced, half-mad teacher James A. Reilly is out in the open. It dates back to 1940, when the men were on the staff of the same seminary. One day in class, Reilly kissed a male student on the lips and was promptly expelled; he has never forgiven the priest for his ouster. Now he lives in a hovel, oiling his ancient rifle, still plotting his revenge, which will spark the climax. Among an array of cartoonishly drawn characters, they are the most notable, along with the sweetly vulnerable Golly, a Protestant married to the Catholic barber; their mixed marriage has made her the target of her fellow Protestant Blossom, the odious, hoity-toity bank manager’s wife. Peeping out from behind the curtain is the omniscient narrator, a malevolent figure whose tricks force Golly into the loony bin. Toward the end we move into the 1970s, so the narrator can kill off characters for sport. The novel’s less-than-original conclusion is that we are all strangers to one another, a lesson taught by the Stray Sod Country of folklore.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-60819-274-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.
Hunter’s debut novel tracks the experiences of her family members during the Holocaust.
Sol and Nechuma Kurc, wealthy, cultured Jews in Radom, Poland, are successful shop owners; they and their grown children live a comfortable lifestyle. But that lifestyle is no protection against the onslaught of the Holocaust, which eventually scatters the members of the Kurc family among several continents. Genek, the oldest son, is exiled with his wife to a Siberian gulag. Halina, youngest of all the children, works to protect her family alongside her resistance-fighter husband. Addy, middle child, a composer and engineer before the war breaks out, leaves Europe on one of the last passenger ships, ending up thousands of miles away. Then, too, there are Mila and Felicia, Jakob and Bella, each with their own share of struggles—pain endured, horrors witnessed. Hunter conducted extensive research after learning that her grandfather (Addy in the book) survived the Holocaust. The research shows: her novel is thorough and precise in its details. It’s less precise in its language, however, which frequently relies on cliché. “You’ll get only one shot at this,” Halina thinks, enacting a plan to save her husband. “Don’t botch it.” Later, Genek, confronting a routine bit of paperwork, must decide whether or not to hide his Jewishness. “That form is a deal breaker,” he tells himself. “It’s life and death.” And: “They are low, it seems, on good fortune. And something tells him they’ll need it.” Worse than these stale phrases, though, are the moments when Hunter’s writing is entirely inadequate for the subject matter at hand. Genek, describing the gulag, calls the nearest town “a total shitscape.” This is a low point for Hunter’s writing; elsewhere in the novel, it’s stronger. Still, the characters remain flat and unknowable, while the novel itself is predictable. At this point, more than half a century’s worth of fiction and film has been inspired by the Holocaust—a weighty and imposing tradition. Hunter, it seems, hasn’t been able to break free from her dependence on it.
Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-56308-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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