by Carol Field ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2001
Thin romantic silliness mainly, but good descriptions of the old manse in Amsterdam, and of the stuff Miranda cooks there.
Cookbook-author Field debuts in fiction with a novel that stretches hard indeed so that things culinary can provide a metaphor of closure.
Australian Miranda is only 15 when she’s swept away by Anton Peeters, the 30-year-old and half-shady Dutch trader who wafts her off to the edenic East Indies for a life of open air, sex, sea, and new baby Diana—when, that is, he’s not away from “home” on his travels, which, Miranda discovers, are apparently involving more and more sex of odd kinds. With this knowledge, she insists that the family relocate to the relative orderliness of Anton’s old family home in Amsterdam, a grand but deeply faded mansion built on the tired foundations of Dutch empire. There, Miranda lives with Diana—whose favorite companion is her monkey, Majine—and with a mother-in-law who’s imperious toward Miranda but loving to her granddaughter. Soon Anton isn’t just at sea most of the time but has abandoned his family for keeps (to the sorrow of Diana, who—inexplicably to the reader—loves the ultra-sleazy guy madly) to form a sex-and-mysticism cult in the Indies, in something like a thinny-thin version of Conrad’s Kurtz. When Mother-in-Law dies back in Amsterdam, her will leaves the whole kit and kaboodle to Diana and only the kitchen pots and pans to Miranda. Embittering enough, but more immediately to the point is the state of poverty the pair find themselves in. What to do but start a restaurant? It quickly becomes the talk of all Amsterdam, so successful that . . . but wait: Will it be able to survive when something truly dreadful happens to the beautiful Miranda, overseeing spirit and culinary genius? Will plain-Jane daughter Diana ever stop mooning over her good-riddance father and step in to save the day, the family, the fortune?
Thin romantic silliness mainly, but good descriptions of the old manse in Amsterdam, and of the stuff Miranda cooks there.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-58234-114-1
Page Count: 250
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
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by Colleen Hoover ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 2, 2016
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
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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
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
by Robinne Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2017
A fascinating, thought-provoking, genre-bending romantic read.
When Solène Marchand takes her 12-year-old daughter to a concert by the hottest boy band on the planet, she doesn't expect to fall in love with one of the singers.
Middle-aged art gallery owner Solène hasn’t dated since her divorce, but when her ex-husband buys their daughter and a group of her friends tickets to Vegas and a backstage concert experience, then backs out at the last minute, she steps in as escort. The five guys in the wildly popular English boy band August Moon appeal to women of all ages, but Hayes, the brains behind the group’s success, flirts with Solène at the concert meet and greet, invites them to a party after the show, then pursues her once she gets back to Los Angeles. He’s only 20 and he’s incredibly famous; his attention is flattering and heady. The two fall into an affair that’s supposed to be light and easy, but before long they can’t ignore their intense emotional attachment. Solène is hesitant to tell her daughter, but when she procrastinates, Isabelle learns about it through an online tabloid, which damages their relationship and leaves Solène open to censure from her ex. Then, once the affair goes viral, she experiences the darker side of Hayes’ fan base. What started out as a jaunty adventure turns into an emotionally fraught journey, and Solène must decide what she’s willing to risk for her happiness and what she won’t risk for her daughter’s. Actress Lee, who appeared in Fifty Shades Darker, debuts with a beautifully written novel that explores sex, love, romance, and fantasy in moving, insightful ways while also examining a woman’s struggle with aging and sexism, with a nod at the tension between celebrity and privacy.
A fascinating, thought-provoking, genre-bending romantic read.Pub Date: June 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-12590-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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