A surprising, emotionally intense character study that elevates everyday anxieties into epic form.
The concluding volume in Tiller’s three-part novel about class and identity, thick with provocative twists and ill will.
Tiller’s Norwegian domestic saga closes by following the pattern of the first two books, published in English in 2017 and 2018. David has taken out an ad asking friends and acquaintances to share memories about him following a bout of amnesia; the replies say something about David, a witty, sour writer, but also about the respondents and broader Norwegian culture. Hanging over the narrative is David’s search for his father’s identity, which this volume resolves, but happy feelings of closure are hard to come by. In the first section, Marius reveals the truth about David’s father and unspools a remembrance of his own insecurities growing up in a wealthy family and competing with his brother. Susanne, a college friend, had an affair with David after her marriage began to crumble, but her relationship with David became poisonous as well. Finally, David himself weighs in, chafing against his stalled literary career and neuroses about his wife’s family; scenes of him sabotaging a family dinner are paired with transcripts of him parrying with his therapist over his fears. If those talk-it-out scenes are a little pat, Tiller’s sense of his characters’ pressure points is acute; he grasps how competitive Marius and David are and how desperate Susanne is to buck against domestic roles. And though scenes sometimes stretch on, Tiller’s pointillistic approach gains power as it goes along. (In David’s section, a bouillabaisse and some Q-tips spark an epic interior explosion over feelings of failure as a husband and father.) David is hard to like, but Tiller’s prismatic approach captures him from a multitude of angles; he and his cohort become fuller, if not necessarily more likable, as the story progresses.
A surprising, emotionally intense character study that elevates everyday anxieties into epic form.Pub Date: July 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64445-058-1
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Graywolf
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
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.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
Readers won’t want to leave behind the imagined world of pain and beauty that McConaghy has conjured.
The reality of climate change serves as the pervasive context for this terrific thriller set on a remote island between Australia and Antarctica.
Four family members and one stranger are trapped on an island with no means of communication—what could go wrong? The setup may sound like a mix of Agatha Christie and The Swiss Family Robinson, but Australian author McConaghy is not aiming for a cozy read. Shearwater Island—loosely based on Macquarie Island, a World Heritage Site—is a research station where scientists have been studying environmental change. For eight years, widowed Dominic Salt has been the island’s caretaker, raising his three children in a paradise of abundant wildlife. But Shearwater is receding under rising seas and will soon disappear. The researchers have recently departed by ship, and in seven weeks a second ship will pick up Dominic and his kids. Meanwhile, they are packing up the seed vault built by the United Nations in case the world eventually needs “to regrow from scratch the food supply that sustains us.” One day a woman, Rowan, washes ashore unconscious but alive after a storm destroys the small boat on which she was traveling. Why she’s come anywhere near Shearwater is a mystery to Dominic; why the family is alone there is a mystery to her. While Rowan slowly recovers, Dominic’s kids, especially 9-year-old Orly—who never knew his mother—become increasingly attached, and Rowan and Dominic fight their growing mutual attraction. But as dark secrets come to light—along with buried bodies—mutual suspicions also grow. The five characters’ internal narratives reveal private fears, guilts, and hopes, but their difficulty communicating, especially to those they love, puts everyone in peril. While McConaghy keeps readers guessing which suspicions are valid, which are paranoia, and who is culpable for doing what in the face of calamity, the most critical battle turns out to be personal despair versus perseverance. McConaghy writes about both nature and human frailty with eloquent generosity.
Readers won’t want to leave behind the imagined world of pain and beauty that McConaghy has conjured.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781250827951
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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