A richly descriptive debut novel that evokes English farm life in the post-World War I period.
Lecouteur’s debut novel reveals family and farm life in England during the period between the two World Wars.
The novel plunges readers straight into the dynamics of the Thomas family: Fred, his wife, Dorothy, and their four daughters. Fred is a World War I veteran settling into farm life, and Dorothy, the daughter of a well-off farmer, is more comfortable working in the family’s dairy than she is keeping house. As the Thomas’ face the trials and tribulations of running a successful farm in the remote English countryside, they must also grapple with the challenges faced by every Brit during the period between the two World Wars: economic hardship, war-ravaged infrastructure and a rapidly changing society. The characters themselves, however, are not as quick to change. Dorothy remains entrenched in Victorian values and Fred is portrayed as hard-working but emotionally disengaged. Regardless what they exhibit publicly, these characters have rich inner lives, which the author depicts poignantly; Dorothy’s personal disappointments are particularly resonant, especially her wish for a son and the post-partum depression she experiences after giving birth to her youngest child. But readers may struggle to connect with her character: Dorothy is not particularly likable or endearing, and tends to browbeat the other members of her family. Fred doesn’t come off much better, content to let the battle rage between mother and daughters. The strength of this tale lies in its descriptions of farm life. Whether recounting a failed crop or the arrival of new poultry, the author offers readers a glimpse inside early 20th-century farm life and how that pans out for a group of women thrust into traditionally male roles. That said, the descriptions of rural life can be quite lengthy and pedantic; whole chapters are dedicated to the rearing of various farm animals, housework and a survey of the surrounding farmland. Impatient readers may be put off by the author’s attention to detail.
A richly descriptive debut novel that evokes English farm life in the post-World War I period.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2009
ISBN: 978-1449035143
Page Count: 592
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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