An homage to Jane Austen written with great intelligence, but also a large measure of maudlin theatricality.
A young woman defiant of social conventions must quickly find a husband to preserve her mother’s aristocratic lineage in this debut 19th-century romance.
When Lady Catherine Claverton is born, her father, the earl of Delamare, immediately despises her, incensed that she is not only a girl who cannot carry on the family name, but disabled as well. Exiled to a country estate and estranged from her father, she becomes a fiercely outspoken nonconformist despite being treated like a “weak-minded invalid.” When her father is on his deathbed, she learns an extraordinary secret: Her mother was the Countess St. Clair, a title she held before she married the earl. This was kept from Catherine for fear she would be exploited by others for the wealth and influence a marriage to her would promise. But now Catherine, just 24 years old, realizes that the title is really an earldom, which means she can continue her mother’s family line if she marries and births a son. She has only two eligible candidates: First, Sir Lyle Barrington, a passionate gentleman who is reputed to engage in nefarious business practices and may only be feigning interest in her opportunistically. And then there’s the handsome Capt. Avebury, a talented and well-heeled sailor. There’s a romantic spark between them, but unbeknown to Catherine, he’s on the run from the Admiralty, wanted for serious crimes, including murder. Meanwhile, Catherine is haunted by a past of her own—she imprudently allowed a young artist to paint a risqué portrait of her, a work he uses to threaten her for favors. Austen’s ambitious story is a vivid commentary on the rigid manners of the time. She is unabashedly inspired by her namesake Jane Austen. The protagonist is a remarkably independent woman for the period, and Catherine’s character is powerfully drawn by the author (Sir Lyle “treated her almost as if she were a young widow, not an unmarried woman. Perhaps that was a consequence of her refusal to conform to society’s expectations. She almost liked it. She certainly appreciated that he thought her smart and independent”). Unfortunately, the incessant reminders of Catherine’s autonomy finally become tediously heavy-handed. In addition, the author has none of Jane Austen’s mischievous wit—this is a well-crafted tale, but a humorlessly melodramatic one as well.
An homage to Jane Austen written with great intelligence, but also a large measure of maudlin theatricality.Pub Date: Dec. 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-73251-580-2
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Apollo Grannus Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Not as thematically ambitious as Whitehead’s earlier work, but a whole lot of fun to read.
Another surprise from an author who never writes the same novel twice.
Though Whitehead has earned considerable critical acclaim for his earlier work—in particular his debut (The Intuitionist, 1999) and its successor (John Henry Days, 2001)—he’ll likely reach a wider readership with his warmest novel to date. Funniest as well, though there have been flashes of humor throughout his writing. The author blurs the line between fiction and memoir as he recounts the coming-of-age summer of 15-year-old Benji Cooper in the family’s summer retreat of New York’s Sag Harbor. “According to the world, we were the definition of paradox: black boys with beach houses,” writes Whitehead. Caucasians are only an occasional curiosity within this idyll, and parents are mostly absent as well. Each chapter is pretty much a self-contained entity, corresponding to a rite of passage: getting the first job, negotiating the mysteries of the opposite sex. There’s an accident with a BB gun and plenty of episodes of convincing someone older to buy beer, but not much really happens during this particular summer. Yet by the end of it, Benji is well on his way to becoming Ben, and he realizes that he is a different person than when the summer started. He also realizes that this time in his life will eventually live only in memory. There might be some distinctions between Benji and Whitehead, though the novelist also spent his youthful summers in Sag Harbor and was the same age as Benji in 1985, when the novel is set. Yet the first-person narrator has the novelist’s eye for detail, craft of character development and analytical instincts for sharp social commentary.
Not as thematically ambitious as Whitehead’s earlier work, but a whole lot of fun to read.Pub Date: April 28, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-385-52765-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2009
BOOK TO SCREEN
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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BOOK TO SCREEN
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