Nancy Drew meets Antiques Roadshow.
Classic old chestnut from the late Dame Catherine Cookson (The Silent Lady, 2002, etc.).
Brawny antiques dealer Paul Aylmer took in little Alison Read after the demise of her uncle Humphrey, Paul’s wartime chum and business partner (the girl’s parents had died long before and tragically). Moving briskly past all the bodies, the author gets down to brass upholstery tacks soon enough: Can’t Paul see that Alison is a woman now? Young, yes—but wise beyond her tender years, and with an unerring eye for fabulous furniture and noteworthy knickknacks with distinguished pedigrees. Over the years Paul taught Alison everything he knows about things like French eight-day timepieces and octagonal Georgian wine coolers, but now he seems oblivious to her budding charms. Alison indulges in secret sobs into her pillow once in a while, but she knows that loneliness may well be an orphan’s cross to bear and dries her girlish tears soon enough—until Paul’s former flame reappears. Mrs. Freda Gordon-Platt is a heartbreaker still, and Alison jealously wonders what Freda wants from Paul this time. Apparently, Freda’s dotty mother-in-law, the first Mrs. Gordon-Platt, has concealed some valuable necklaces within various odd objects that have subsequently vanished. Is there anything Paul can do? The convoluted history of the Gordon-Platts is gradually revealed but not the whereabouts of the jewelry. The redoubtable old lady, a former beauty and social butterfly who no longer has use for such baubles, has hidden it all safely away from the clutches of scheming Freda—as well as from the much more deserving Margaret, her hopelessly plain daughter who committed the unpardonable sin of marrying beneath her. Enter yet another Gordon-Platt to vie with a young furniture dealer for Alison’s favor. Alison, however, is too preoccupied with her unrequited tenderness for Paul and the mystery of the missing necklaces to pay much attention. Is it possible that the old writing case up for auction holds a secret compartment? A deft twist of a penknife will reveal a surprise . . . .
Nancy Drew meets Antiques Roadshow.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2002
ISBN: 1-58547-064-3
Page Count: 184
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2002
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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