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Rendezvous with Destiny

Name: Rendezvous with Destiny
Author: Bob Fields
ISBN: 978-1-5089-3865-1

by Bob Fields ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 11, 2015

This uplifting book should resonate with those looking for a simple and inspiring rags-to-riches tale.

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A historical fiction novel presents the story of a woman succeeding against all odds.

Padgett Harvey, the daughter of mixed-race parents—one white, the other Native American, of the Maliseet tribe—grows up in the 1950s near the small town of Houlton, Maine, in a comfortable, loving home. Things take a turn for the worse for Padgett, however, as her parents are killed in a hate crime. Without a home, she must move to her Grandma and Uncle George’s house in “The Flats,” a disadvantaged part of town where Native Americans live. Despite these setbacks, Padgett is able to flourish at school, making friends and becoming a star student. On the eve of starting high school, though, her grandmother’s house burns down, and Padgett must go into foster care. Still, she remains undaunted, and continues to excel in her studies, receiving a scholarship to study finance at Syracuse University, and graduating from high school as valedictorian. In her graduation speech, Padgett promises that she will “return to Houlton, to the people who have supported me, and dedicate my time and whatever fortune I may have, to improving the lot of my tribe, the Maliseet. I want to see them out of the shacks at the dump and living in real homes as part of this community we all love. That is my goal, and also, I believe, my destiny.” This directive, along with Padgett’s work in the New York financial sector, makes up the back half of the book, as she and Sean Patrick McGuinness, another Houlton native who prospers despite a meager upbringing, plan an event that will help the Maliseet gain federal recognition. Fields’ (The Ghosts of Evergreen, 2015, etc.) novel commendably discusses issues of racism and the challenges that Native Americans have faced in this country, but his characterization often lacks nuance—the villains in the story can be cartoonish, and the heroes lack any flaws, making Padgett’s eventual triumphs unsurprising. Emotionally, though, it’s hard not to feel good reading a success story like this, and there’s enough humor to keep the narrative moving along briskly. But a smattering of copy errors throughout detracts from the reading experience (for example, the character Erika Fitzpatrick is later spelled “Erick”).

This uplifting book should resonate with those looking for a simple and inspiring rags-to-riches tale.

Pub Date: May 11, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-5089-3865-1

Page Count: 400

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2016

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

HISTORICAL FICTION | GENERAL FICTION

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WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES

by Georgia Hunter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2017

Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.

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Hunter’s debut novel tracks the experiences of her family members during the Holocaust.

Sol and Nechuma Kurc, wealthy, cultured Jews in Radom, Poland, are successful shop owners; they and their grown children live a comfortable lifestyle. But that lifestyle is no protection against the onslaught of the Holocaust, which eventually scatters the members of the Kurc family among several continents. Genek, the oldest son, is exiled with his wife to a Siberian gulag. Halina, youngest of all the children, works to protect her family alongside her resistance-fighter husband. Addy, middle child, a composer and engineer before the war breaks out, leaves Europe on one of the last passenger ships, ending up thousands of miles away. Then, too, there are Mila and Felicia, Jakob and Bella, each with their own share of struggles—pain endured, horrors witnessed. Hunter conducted extensive research after learning that her grandfather (Addy in the book) survived the Holocaust. The research shows: her novel is thorough and precise in its details. It’s less precise in its language, however, which frequently relies on cliché. “You’ll get only one shot at this,” Halina thinks, enacting a plan to save her husband. “Don’t botch it.” Later, Genek, confronting a routine bit of paperwork, must decide whether or not to hide his Jewishness. “That form is a deal breaker,” he tells himself. “It’s life and death.” And: “They are low, it seems, on good fortune. And something tells him they’ll need it.” Worse than these stale phrases, though, are the moments when Hunter’s writing is entirely inadequate for the subject matter at hand. Genek, describing the gulag, calls the nearest town “a total shitscape.” This is a low point for Hunter’s writing; elsewhere in the novel, it’s stronger. Still, the characters remain flat and unknowable, while the novel itself is predictable. At this point, more than half a century’s worth of fiction and film has been inspired by the Holocaust—a weighty and imposing tradition. Hunter, it seems, hasn’t been able to break free from her dependence on it.

Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.

Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-399-56308-9

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016

Categories:

RELIGIOUS FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK TO SCREEN
Hulu’s ‘We Were the Lucky Ones’ Adds To Cast

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MAGIC HOUR

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

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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.