With this so-so historical novel, Chase-Riboud (Echo of Lions, 1988, etc.) returns to the scene of her first work, Sally Hemings (not reviewed), to pick up the story of Harriet Hemings, the daughter of slave Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson promised Sally Hemings that their children, who were slaves at Monticello, would be allowed to ``stroll'' at 21—that is, their running away would be ignored but they would not officially be freed. When she reaches that age in 1822, Harriet Hemings is escorted to Philadelphia by an old friend of Jefferson's, changes her name to Harriet Petit, and begins passing as a white woman. The juicy premise delivers some insights into the nature and definition of race, but Chase-Riboud's clumsy use of history gives some sections the feeling of a virtual-reality game- -now you are watching Sojourner Truth give her famous ``Ain't I a Woman'' speech; now you are witnessing discussions about the Dred Scott case. Broader historical information is less intrusive, like Petit's close friendship with Charlotte Waverly, which eventually becomes a sexual relationship of the type that was common among middle-class women at the time. Although Petit narrates most of the time, she is interrupted intermittently by other characters- -including Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln—whose sections end with preachy proclamations. It is unclear exactly what these are meant to accomplish, since they use formal language to announce facts that certainly would not have been made public at the time. In any case, these voices are all less effective than Petit's. A scene in which she returns to Monticello after Jefferson's death and spies a list of slaves to be auctioned off—including her own mother entered at 50 dollars—is particularly chilling. Lacking literary finesse, but still powerful enough to tarnish the reputation of yet another dead white man.
Pub Date: Oct. 19, 1994
ISBN: 0-517-59861-2
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994
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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