A nostalgic examination of the effects of war, bigotry, and lost opportunities.
Historical fiction about a Croatian woman coming-of-age in war-torn Europe.
Raguz (The Labyrinth of Vukovar, 2016) begins this sweeping tale in the early 20th century as a young Jewish woman discovers that’s she’s become pregnant by her Christian boyfriend. Unable to confess to her family, Bertha Klein runs away to another Slovenian city and changes her identity. Later, Bertha dies during childbirth, leaving her seamstress friend, Lucia, to raise baby Emma. Lucia and her husband rear the girl as their own, treating her as kindly as they do their older sons. But Emma’s peaceful childhood is disrupted when the effects of war and poverty hit her small Croatian town. After Emma reaches her teenage years, Lucia secures her a job as a maid in a nearly empty castle, and the young woman dutifully sends her wages back to her family. Eventually, the quiet castle receives long-term guests, including a handsome young baron, Erik Farkas. Emma and Erik are drawn to each other, but they know that their social status will prevent any future together. Even so, they enjoy an intense tryst before Erik and his family members depart. Emma is even more devastated when she discovers that she’s pregnant. As she pines for her lost love, she raises her son, experiences relationships with other men, and tries to survive war and political strife. In straightforward prose, this story covers nearly a full century, chronicling historical events in Croatia and Hungary right along with those in Emma’s personal life. The tale is rich with detail about the intimidation tactics of the Communist regime in Croatia (“If you omitted something or dared to lie to us, you’ll be held accountable,” one militia man tells Emma), and about the hopelessness that many everyday people experienced, due in part to mass persecutions. That said, the story’s 700-plus pages could have been easily pared down without sacrificing any of the suspense that it manages to build during the wartime sections. Overall, though, Raguz tells an engaging tale that sheds light on its era.
A nostalgic examination of the effects of war, bigotry, and lost opportunities.Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5246-5395-8
Page Count: 744
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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