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THE THIRD STEP

Name: THE THIRD STEP
Author: Sharon Hart Strickland
ISBN: 978-1491247853

by Sharon Hart Strickland ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 22, 2013

An enjoyable but flawed novel with entertaining characters.

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This historical novel follows a group of prostitutes who grapple with love, loss and murder in the Old West of the late 1800’s.

In Strickland’s debut novel, the heroine, a plucky young woman named Polly, tries to maintain her integrity in the midst of the brothel where she works. All of the women who work at Belle’s Place, in fact, are loving and good-hearted to the core. They form a makeshift family that helps them endure the trials and tribulations of living as prostitutes in the dog-eat-dog world of the American West. At the head of this family are the madam, Belle Cameron, and Quinton, a Native American who works as a sort of bouncer for the house. The group must band together to protect Polly when, in self-defense, she and Quinton kill an important client and the dead man’s wife is falsely accused of the crime. To make matters more complicated, Polly falls in love with a Chinese immigrant named Ben, and the two must overcome racial prejudice as they decide to make their lives together. Strickland crafts an entertaining story and brings it to life in a unique setting. She creates an array of strong, tough women who drive the plot. However, too many of the female characters blend together and seem more like stereotypical prostitutes with hearts of gold rather than fully fleshed-out characters. All of these women are beautiful and hardworking, and they secretly yearn for real love and family outside of their profession. By contrast, the murder victim’s wife and her snooty compatriots come across like caricatures of cold, unfeeling socialites, despite Strickland’s clear attempts to draw attention to their perspectives as well. Finally, the subplot about Ben and Polly combating racial violence doesn’t quite come together with the larger murder plot as seamlessly as it should. Whenever the action leaves the brothel and the town of Pendleton where it is based, the story gets a bit confusing. The final, climactic act that is supposed to weave the two storylines together doesn’t quite have a punch. All in all, Strickland crafts an engaging tale, but it doesn’t quite live up to the potential of its premise.

An enjoyable but flawed novel with entertaining characters.

Pub Date: Nov. 22, 2013

ISBN: 978-1491247853

Page Count: 264

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

HISTORICAL FICTION | GENERAL FICTION

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WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES

by Georgia Hunter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2017

Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.

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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

Categories:

RELIGIOUS FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK TO SCREEN
Hulu’s ‘We Were the Lucky Ones’ Adds To Cast

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MAGIC HOUR

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

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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.