A novel with articulate, well-paced, and thoughtful social commentary—and a few surprises along the way.
In this debut legal drama, a Vermont attorney defends the First Amendment in two cases, one of which involves the heartbreaking death of a high schooler.
The body of 17-year-old Kerry Pearson is discovered in Montpelier’s Mahady Park at the base of a sheer granite outcrop. The cause of death was a fall from the top of the cliff. There’s no sign of foul play, and after a note is found in her purse (“I can’t go on anymore. I’m sorry”), the tragedy is ruled a suicide. But Kerry’s mother finds a private Facebook message from Kerry’s friend Ricky Stillwell, a born-again Christian, telling her that being gay is a sin and that perhaps it would be best if she were outed at school. The school board decides that Ricky should be expelled even though his missive never appeared publicly and was written from his home computer. First Amendment advocate Sam Jacobson takes Ricky on as a client in his lawsuit against the school despite his horror at Ricky’s behavior. Sam is also representing Lucy Cross, who’s suing the town of Jefferson over its inclusion of an opening prayer at its annual town meeting; the case is scheduled to be heard by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City. Lambek has been a lawyer in Vermont for the past quarter-century, which allows him to bring a fine sense of authenticity to this tale. It’s a deftly nuanced, multilayered narrative that’s as much about the complex relationships among its many supporting characters as it is about courtroom maneuvers. For example, Sam’s law partner, Alicia Santana, is married to Barb Laval, who, in turn, is the assistant to high school principal Gayle Peters, who asks the firm to represent her in a lawsuit against the school board. He depicts Sam as someone who usually sees the glass as half-empty, and his mix of self-doubt and relentless devotion to family, friends, and principles is endearing. The courtroom preparations and arguments, laced with references to real-life cases, are satisfying and engaging, as well.
A novel with articulate, well-paced, and thoughtful social commentary—and a few surprises along the way.Pub Date: May 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-57869-006-0
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Rootstock Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 8, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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