Cookson (The Lady on My Left, p. 1413) bestows an emotional grandeur on the circumscribed lives of her working-class...
First US publication of a 1952 novel by the late Dame Catherine—and a good one: Cain and Abel on the Tyneside docks.
Young and strapping John O’Brien has a romantic heart and a poetic way, though all that’s no use as he looks for work unloading freighters. His mother, Mary Ellen, is pregnant once more, with many mouths to feed already. Devout Catholics, the family is frightened by the Protestant spiritualists who move into the flat above, determined to help the afflicted—and the old man and his granddaughter Christine do somehow save Mary Ellen from a childbirth end, though her newborn dies. Healed, she struggles on against soul-destroying poverty, not helped much by husband Shane, an alcoholic who suffers from tremors. But Shane can still knock down his other son, Dominic, a violent, almost fiendish brute who spends his pay on drink and whores. Meanwhile, good son John adores younger sister Katie, a shy and studious lass, and believes in her dream of becoming a teacher someday—didn’t Miss Llewellyn say she could do it? Mary Llewellyn is a teacher herself, a vision of elegance and breeding to this rough lot, the daughter of an erstwhile dockworker who’s now a respected boat-builder with his own yard, while her mother, a sharp-tongued social climber, is aghast to see her daughter keep company with John. She’s not the only one: Dominic erupts with jealous rage when John becomes a gaffer who hires and oversees the dockworkers. First, Dominic beguiles a simple-minded girl and gets her pregnant, then starts scurrilous rumors that John’s the culprit. When he sets Kate and Christine adrift on a boat, all of Tyneside sees the girls drown. Knowing he’ll never have his Mary now, John hunts his evil brother from house to house, bent on a terrible revenge.
Cookson (The Lady on My Left, p. 1413) bestows an emotional grandeur on the circumscribed lives of her working-class characters, and her vividly written tale has real power.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2002
ISBN: 0-7432-3678-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2002
A stunning, superior romance.
A young Vietnamese woman seizes an opportunity to travel to America in hopes of finding a husband and a better life.
Esme Tran isn't ashamed that she supports her family by working as a maid in a Ho Chi Minh City hotel, but she secretly wishes for a different life for herself and her 5-year-old daughter. After a chance encounter, a wealthy American woman invites Esme to spend the summer in the U.S., hoping Esme might be a good match for her son. Meanwhile, back in California, Khai is horrified to find that his mother has taken this drastic step, but he agrees to host Esme if his mother promises never to interfere in his life again. Hoang (The Kiss Quotient, 2018) has a gift for developing layered, complex, and dynamic characters. As a man with autism, Khai has dealt with the traumas of his past by convincing himself he has a heart of stone and is literally unable to love. Esme wants a better life for herself but wonders if Khai could ever be interested in her if he knew the truth: She’s uneducated and has a young daughter she's hasn't told him about. Their misunderstandings and attempts to connect are full of grace, humor, and pathos. After an awkward sexual encounter, Khai asks his brother for sex advice in a painfully funny scene, and Esme’s feelings of anger and hurt are just as lovingly crafted. As Khai and Esme spend more time together, they find that despite their differences, they are a perfect match. Their individual character arcs—Khai learning to understand his own heart and Esme’s determination to pursue her goals and dreams—are just as pleasing and powerful as their evolution as a couple.
A stunning, superior romance.Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-451-49082-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Likable characters trapped in a plodding, directionless romance.
A one-night stand slowly evolves into a long-term relationship in Guillory’s (The Proposal, 2018, etc.) third book featuring an interconnected group of friends.
Maddie Forest and Theo Stephens have never liked each other. Maddie thinks Theo is annoying and arrogant, and he thinks she’s a vapid party girl. However, having the same best friend, Alexa Monroe (heroine of The Wedding Date, 2018), means they have no choice but to see each other socially. After years of terse interactions, Maddie and Theo have a one-night stand after his birthday party. The beginning crackles with promise, but then they drift into a monotonous monthslong secret affair which consists solely of them hanging out in Theo’s apartment, eating pizza, and having sex. Neither Theo nor Maddie wants to tell Alexa they’re hooking up, and when she asks both of them to be members of her wedding party, they decide the wedding will be the end point for their affair. As time passes, they share with one another their professional hopes and aspirations about making the world a better place. Theo is working to pass a statewide pre-K initiative, and Maddie dreams of landing a gig as a TV stylist for women re-entering the workforce after having gone through homelessness or rehabilitation. When Theo’s pre-K rally takes an implausible turn, they double down on secrecy even though it's clear their feelings have changed. Ultimately, the characters display a perplexing lack of initiative as romantic partners: Everything happens to them, they rarely stop to examine their feelings, and they are too afraid to share the truth in their hearts. The sheer lack of action brings the romance to a grinding halt as Maddie and Theo wait for someone else to arrive and propel them into the next stage of their relationship.
Likable characters trapped in a plodding, directionless romance.Pub Date: July 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-984802-19-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
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