The intrinsically fascinating story of the struggle of competing factions in the western territories to achieve—or avoid- -statehood in the late 19th century: that's the background for Dempsey's (the paperback What Law There Was, etc.) earnest, high- collar tale about a group of pre-statehood activists led by James Hill, owner of the Great Northern Railroad. Young Zack Horton, heir to his late grandfather's Dakota and Western Railroad—about to be sold to James Hill—and lovely Leah Page, owner-manager of a Baltimore leather-goods company and an ardent suffragist, have been recruited by Hill to travel west and beat the drums for statehood: the tycoon would rather deal with individual states than with Washington's (Democratic) political appointees; there's also the bogey of a nationalized railroad system! After a lunch with labor leader Sam Gompers, Leah joins the men off and on on the western trek. She and Zack will meet Hill and President Cleveland; then Zack bags Teddy Roosevelt in Dakota territory (``There's no way this land can be set aside for a bunch of savages [Indians] to use as a playground!''); talks with a Grange leader and a Mormon power; and rescues a mate in a flood caused by a mining disaster in Idaho. Meanwhile, there's talk to, and about, various politicos, good and bad, homesteaders, labor and farming union boys, empire builders, and strong women suffragists. At the last, in D.C., comes the statehood vote for the northern tier of territories. The real people here (like the fictional) speak with lungfuls of ether (``There are great, great things about to happen and I intend to be a part of them!''), and everyone chuckles and grins a lot. But while a bit stiff in the telling, this carefully researched fiction—with lots of velvet luxury in private railroad cars, etc.—is gripping stuff on pre-statehood turmoil.
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-312-85403-X
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1992
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
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