A colorful portrait of a colorful time, though the storyline isn’t as captivating.
In Hays’ historical novel, artists, partisans and Freemasons fight for a country’s freedom in the face of a secretive, dangerous religious order.
In 1910, Lisbon-born Florbela Sarmentos, a 21-year-old graduate of the painting academy in Cherbourg, arrives in Paris to pursue her dream of becoming a painter. She’s referred to La Ruche, or “the Beehive,” an inexpensive studio for artists operated by Alfred Boucher. At La Ruche, she befriends other aspiring artists destined to become seminal figures in the art world, including Marc Chagall, Diego Rivera, Angelina Beloff and Amedeo Modigliani. She also develops a close friendship with her roommate, Irène Langevin, a talented but mysterious sculptor. Florbela’s arrival in Paris coincides with political turmoil in her native Portugal, and she is contacted by Paulo and Armand, members of a group called Bande Liberté du Monde—aka Les Souris Trempés (“the Soggy Mice”)—that’s aligned with the populist cause in Portugal. Paulo and Armand bring Florbela a letter from her jailed father, Hermes Sarmentos, that discusses the dire political situation in Portugal and warns Florbela to watch out for the Ordo Crucis Incendio, the Order of the Burning Cross. Hermes also directs Florbela to seek out a Freemason and accept the protection of the men who delivered the letter to her. The letter starts an adventure involving political assassination, revolution and a disturbing painting that bears a secret code. Hays’ ambitious effort offers a vibrant portrait of the Paris art scene of the early 20th century; however, the narrative is an uneven mix of artistic ambitions and political intrigue. The latter isn’t as compelling, primarily because it involves unlikely plot twists. Nonetheless, from parties with the Steins and Delaunays to the influence of Guillaume Apollinaire, Hays captures the heady bohemian glamour of Florbela’s world.
A colorful portrait of a colorful time, though the storyline isn’t as captivating.Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2013
ISBN: 978-0985418236
Page Count: 372
Publisher: Diadema Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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