A well-executed tale of abuse, empowerment, and healing.
A woman finds her way out of an abusive relationship and makes peace with her past.
In this debut contemporary novel, Zane tells the story of Sarah Jenkins, a wife, mother, and English teacher. In the book’s first chapters, Sarah does not understand that her husband, Robert, usually away from home on extended work trips, is an emotional abuser whenever he is present. Robert’s nature is obvious to readers from the opening pages, as the author’s close narration of Sarah’s thoughts makes it clear how desperately she strives to avoid upsetting Robert and how much of herself she sacrifices in the process. As Robert escalates to physical violence, Sarah draws back from her friends. (“You can’t let her see what a mess you’ve made of things. She wouldn’t want to be friends with you anymore.”) But fellow mother Kate and co-worker Maggie eventually team up to make Sarah face her situation and deal with the unresolved issues of her childhood that have left her willing to put up with an untenable family life. When matters reach a crisis point, Sarah eventually learns to rely on her friends’ support; to make the right decisions for herself and her young daughter, Lizzy; and to stop worrying about the reactions of Robert’s wealthy and judgmental mother. (“ ‘It was the best party, Lizzy,’ Cynthia said. ‘Bestest isn’t a word.’ ”) Zane, a therapist and former nurse, does an excellent job of capturing the raw emotions of her characters and even succeeds in making Robert, the clear villain of the tale, marginally sympathetic when readers learn about the secret he has spent years concealing. The result is a satisfying and cathartic work of women’s fiction that offers an engaging and easy-to-get-into read, perfect for fans of authors Susan Wiggs and Holly Chamberlain. Although it can be painful to read the intimate depictions of emotional abuse, Zane allows the audience to feel like part of Sarah’s support network rather than a voyeur and to ultimately enjoy a difficult story.
A well-executed tale of abuse, empowerment, and healing.Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63152-403-5
Page Count: 261
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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