At one point in this door-creaking vehicle one character observes that "The house is really turned on tonight!" And turn on it does, with black evil THINGs in the basement, a WASP dybbuk, feathery calls in the night, moving draperies. Caught up in all the terrestrial racket are widowed Ruth, her niece Sara, middle-aged professor Pat and Sara's fiance, Bruce—all plotting and researching in Ruth's haunted Georgetown, Washington, D.C., house. The fantastic four spend anxious hours there, while first Sara, then Pat and Bruce are possessed—then back to the old drawing board at Pat's untenanted digs to unravel the meaning of the latest sortie of the spirits. Turns out that former 18th-century inhabitants—father, daughter and lover—had accomplished a battle ending in two murders. The dauntless 20th-century pairs finally put all ghosts to rest. Old spirits in old bottles.
Pub Date: Oct. 11, 1968
ISBN: 978-0-06-074505-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Meredith
Review Posted Online: Aug. 9, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1968
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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